Jim Jr. would lose 15 immediate relatives in Jonestown, including his pregnant wife, Yvette Muldrow. "I think I knew it was just a bunch of junk and that it was really about nothing," Stephan Jones said. Jones and his wife adopted several children of different ethnicities, referring to themselves as the "Rainbow Family." They had a child of their own in 1959, Stephan Gandhi. Stephan believed he was too cowardly to follow through with the oft-threatened revolutionary suicide.. He too was a member of the basketball team. They must be prepared to die in the defense of socialism. During that time, almost 900 people died, including Stephans mother and some of his siblings. By the fall of that year, almost 1,000 Temple members emigrated to Jonestown, but for Stephan Jones, the pleasure crumbled when his father arrived. Jones often tried to involve Stephan in his various deceptions, including one in which Stephan would pretend to be shot while going to greet a lawyer from the U.S. (Reiterman 375), and one in which Stephan would pretend to kidnap John Stoen in a bag and then pretend to rescue him from his assailant (Reiterman 398). ", Mr. Jones -- his first name is pronounced Stephen; Marceline Jones spelled it Stephan to honour the memory of an adopted daughter, Stephanie, who died in a car accident -- claims to be "someone who believes everything is providential. He would rise before dawn, pick his way into the bush, and sit without moving as the quiet around him split slowly into bird cries and insect buzzing and the scuffling and calling of creatures he could not see. Jim W. Jones Jr. attended school in Brazil before returning to the United States to attend the University of California, Berkeley. _taboola.push({ He is married to his wife Kristi Jones since 1991. I see it in politics, I see it in advertising, I see it in a variety of places, and I feel theres no more pernicious or toxic belief than that. Since murderous mastermindCharles Manson hada tendency to say things like "Youre all my children," its been difficult to prove the paternity of several kids he may have fathered. They have, however, moved on with their lives. People do things for him. Everybody did the best with what they had, even my poor, sick, monstrous fraud of a father. Today, Mr. Jones seems the very model of caring California calm. Stephan understood the White Nights to be tools of manipulation, and found them incredibly unpleasant (Reiterman 390). The film, directed and written, respectively, by Canadians Tim Wolochatiuk and Jason Sherman, airs on Vision TV on March 13, and Mr. Jones, who appears in the program, is lending it some of his promotional muscle this week in Toronto. More at IMDbPro Contact info Agent info Resume Born June 1, 1959 Add to list Photos Known for The People's Advocate: The Life & Times of Charles R. Garry 7.2 Self - Interviewee 2007 P3 Dokumentr When the prodigals visited, the Cobbs kept it secret from Jones. That way no one else would want to live. In 1961, Jones earned a degree in secondary education from Butler University in Indianapolis. Stephan is the only living son of Jim Jones and his late wife. Dozens of Peoples Temple members in Guyana . We're talking 30 people, but that's a lot of people to be looking over your shoulder.". Wiki, Age, Height, Husband, Net Worth, Ethnicity. When asked what Stephan wished people would take away from the Jonestown tragedy, he stated: Be aware of this message that was prevalent in the temple: The end justifies the means. And I see that throughout society. This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Rosalynn Carters first name. Jonestown: Paradise Lost, a 100-minute TV docudrama about the final crazed days of the wannabe multiracial utopia in equatorial South America and the 47-year-old zealot and megalomaniac who ordered the mass suicide and murder, thereby ensuring that Nov. 18, 1978, would be a day that would live in infamy. The bodies surrounded a podium from which Jim Jones, aided by armed men to hold down the unwilling, had cried out in encouragement while men, women, and children drank red Flavor-Aid mixed with potassium cyanide. And the temple was his life first in Indiana, later in California. Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://www.haaretz.com/life/2019-01-22/ty-article-magazine/.premium/four-decades-on-jim-jones-son-tells-how-it-was-at-jonestown/0000017f-e640-d62c-a1ff-fe7b2ea00000, A collaborative project of Cowles Library at Drake University and the Special Collections Department of Library and Information Access at San Diego State University, Chronological List of Annotated Documents, Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1983/11/07/jonestowns-haunted-son/f9369588-008b-497a-9ad3-b303dc01a8df/, https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=17058, https://www.haaretz.com/life/2019-01-22/ty-article-magazine/.premium/four-decades-on-jim-jones-son-tells-how-it-was-at-jonestown/0000017f-e640-d62c-a1ff-fe7b2ea00000. They were at a basketball tournament five years ago, in November 1978 when the congressman and the reporters came to Jonestown. 17. He was so lost to his narcissism. Stephan Jones Seeks Forgiveness For Jonestown Massacre, Late Jim Jones Son Stephan Jones Is An Actor, Who is Brandon T. Jackson? He is the author with the late John Jacobs of Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Although Laotian refugees briefly lived there in the early 1980s, nothing of the original settlement remains. They might be expected to take a leadership role in the organization after their parents step down, or maybe they opt to cut those ties completely. Jim Jr., followed that July and was 16 years old at the time. I've certainly seen some wonderful things come out of religion, not least from my mother's parents and her sister. Jim Jones had wanted his son and friends to cut short their stay and return to Jonestown where a group headed by California Congressman Leo Ryan was starting an investigation into reports of abuse there. . Soon after, in December 1976, Jones requested that Stephan go to start working in Jonestown, possibly afraid that he was at risk of defecting (Reiterman 311). (AP Photo/File), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news, assassination of U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan and four others. Mr. Jones -- his first name is pronounced Stephen; Marceline Jones spelled it Stephan to honour the memory of an adopted daughter, Stephanie, who died in a car accident -- claims to be. It was he who dreamed up Jonestown, he who willed it into being, and he who brought it down: first, with the assassination of U.S. Rep. Leo Ryan and four others by temple members on a nearby . . "Right off the bat I explain to them that my father was nuts, that he was a drug addict," he says. Some of the best people I've ever met were in Jonestown and some of the worst. He sought treatment, and eventually, the father of three settled into a quiet life in California. Over four decades, as they have built new lives, they have struggled with grief and the feeling that they were pariahs. He rode bulldozers, dodged falling trees, killed snakes, lit brush fires and rode the slow boats upriver with loads of cut wood for flooring and walls. For a long time I thought they felt the convulsions before they died, until somebody assured me that you pass out before you feel the convulsions. Today, at 47, Stephan Jones says he doesn't "think a heck of a lot about the past. He apparently lives as an anonymous citizen. Jim Jones and his people. In 1959, they adopted a six-year-old girl, while in June, they had their only biological child, which they named Stephan Gandhi Jones. He was not prepared for suicide. In his spare time he swims, or rides his bicycle, or lifts weights, or plays basketball. The Jones rainbow family acted as a symbol of racial integration within the temple community (Reiterman 63). The only surviving child of Jim Jones, Stephan was born on June 1, 1959, in Indiana, USA. But the entertainers stayed in Jonestown to entertain Ryan. 1959 Stephan Jones was born on June 1, 1959 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA as Stephan Gandhi Jones. Stephan later suspected that he was being secretly drugged, and all of the guns on the compound were ordered to be turned in, though Stephan secretly kept his rifle (Reiterman 455). Only one son, Stephan, was born to Jim Jones and his late wife Marceline Jones. Yet, as he indicated in an interview yesterday, he's also loathe to disavow or ignore it. There is no way we would be shooting at the airstrip. The woman sang as they coupled, and when Stephan Jones' mother told the boy she knew about it, she also told him--it is this he remembers as the crescendo of the betrayal--that his father had even described the song. There are moments when he glimpses the edges of power and understands precisely how it might be used. The 21-year-old Indiana native felt pride pioneering in the distant jungle of Guyana, South America. Jim Jones (1931-1978) and Marceline Jones (1927-1978). 1959 (June 1): Marceline gave birth to son Stephan Gandhi Jones. When the rains approached, he would stand and watch the water come, pushing solid and steady toward him like some enormous stage set being wheeled across the hills. Son of anarchist: My father, Jim Jones, and what the world can still learn from him. Stephan Gandhi Jones is the son of Jim and Marceline Jones. He has been married to Kristi Jones since 1991. Forrest Ray Jones . Stephan was extremely passionate about athletics, participating in track, football, and baseball (Reiterman 181), with his true passion being for basketball, to Jones chagrin (Reiterman 308). When Jim Sr., a local Democratic Party darling, met with future first lady Rosalynn Carter, Jim Jr. proudly went along. "He used to say that I would acquire his gift in my late years. Here's how some of the kids of famous cult leaders moved on with their lives. His wife has learned at those moments to let him be. Four granite slabs are etched with names of the 918 people who died in Guyana including James Warren Jones, which deeply offends some whose relatives perished. Vilchez was dispatched to the Guyanese capital of Georgetown to raise money. Family (3) Trivia (4) Only natural son of Rev. He is still elated by it. 1958 (October 5): The Joneses adopted two Korean children, Stephanie (b. During a White Night in Spring 1978, he urged his father to stop, whispering, Youre putting people through unnecessary pain (Reiterman 391). Jim Jones' 19-year-old son Stephen was charged with murder today in the throat-slashings of four Peoples Temple members hours after the mass suicide-murder at Jonestown. that one last act would be admitting he was a coward, and about nothing. He revealed that he was sober in a recent interview. Stephan Jones was 6 years old, the only biological child of James and Marceline Baldwin Jones, when his father moved from Indiana to northern California with his family and 140 of the parishioners who had come to believe there was something extraordinary about the Rev. Devotion to its ideals bolstered her self-worth. At another White Night in spring or summer 1978, Stephan wanted to see if his father would call of the event on his own, so he told his mother of his plan for both of them to stand back and watch (Reiterman 425). I am no apologist.". . When one of Stephan Jones' adopted brothers once declared in a rage that they had to kill their father, Stephan remembers talking him out of it: "I said, 'God, you'd have chaos on your hands if you just went out and did this. "I dont care what you think of my father,"Jones wrote in 2015. He sought treatment, and eventually, the father of three settled into a quiet life in California. The years have shaped another lesson for Stephan Jones, but it makes him uneasy to talk about it. They have altogether three daughters. He was cleared of any complicity--another Peoples Temple member served a prison sentence for his role in the deaths--but Stephan Jones has come to believe that surviving Guyanese prison somehow braced him for his own re-entry to the world. " Retrieved December 10, 2022, from https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2861599/, Reflections and articles by Stephan Jones. ", Jim Jones had warned them over and over that invading soldiers would torture their children; maybe that is what they feared most, Stephan Jones says. Stephan helped erect a basketball court and form a team. Dozens of Peoples Temple members in Guyana survived the mass suicides and murders of more than 900 because they had slipped out of Jonestown or happened to be away Nov. 18, 1978. yakima skybox latch problem; busta paga errata in difetto. Cobb lost 11 relatives that day, including his mother, youngest brother and four sisters. Of course, it's entirely understandable why Mr. Jones doesn't regularly mull over the fate of his notorious father or that of his beloved mother, Marceline, who swallowed the fateful poison-laced fruit punch that day in Jonestown. And I've come to believe in a God, creator of all things, all powerful, all knowing, incredibly loving, but it's a God far beyond any religion I've ever encountered. Everything to Know About the Love Life of a Social Media Influencer, Chase Landry of Swamp People Is a Father, According to His Alleged Relationship With Cheyenne Wheat, Exploring Pat McAfees Beautiful Wedding with Wife Samantha, Who Is Luke Braceys Girlfriend? When he was seventeen. The reports were wrong, they say. He seemed to have had a difficult existence after what happened to his family. As Stephan Jones and a few others were walking away, they heard a gunshot and raced back to Jones hut, where they found him on the floor in shock, but unharmed. Agnes Pauline Jones, Timothy Glen Jones, Jim Jon Prokes, Jim W. Jones Jr, Lew Eric Jones, John Moss Jones, Suzanne O. Jones, and Stephanie Jones are the names of the people involved. Toward the end, as he watched the array of barbiturates, amphetamines and tranquilizers that now slurred his father's speech and sometimes left him physically unable to leave the Jonestown house, Stephan Jones says murder seemed almost redundant. She gives us the order that we were supposed to kill ourselves, Vilchez recalled. "I usually try to tell people when we're in a good time to talk about it, because my God, it takes two hours just to scratch the surface," Stephan Jones says. Kristi Jones (1991 - present)( 3 children). He has read most of "Raven," which he believes to be the best of the books about his father, but he has never been able to bring himself to read the chapter about the suicides and murders. I can't imagine a better grave marker for them.". ", Stephan Jones' lips draw back when he talks about his father; he looks for an instant like a cornered dog. Even though he attended public schools, Stephan Jones had never really learned to live in the outside world. Dozens of members in Guyana slipped out of Jonestown or happened to be away that day. Stephan Gandhi Jones is the son of the notorious religious cult leader Jim Jones. "You can tell when it's a man; the positions are different," Jones says evenly. . "I just felt like this was all they had," he says. Then they could identify and allow themselves to step into the story and understand how such a thing could happen (Sharir). Photo from Peoples Temple files, acquired from Reiterman 393. When people ask about his past, he says he was "overseas," or "in volunteer service." (35) 3; Lew Eric Jones (21) 3; Stephan Gandhi Jones (19) 4; Timothy Glenn Tupper Jones (18) 3; James Warren Jones, Jr. (18) 3, 4. . It would have been like I was a counter-revolutionary, in some sense.". The young men on the basketball team took strength in seeing someone stand up to Jones, and Stephan appreciated no longer being isolated in his hatred of his father. "I was still naive enough--well, not necessarily naive enough; I still believe the CIA is capable of all kinds of things--but I felt that we could geniunely be a threat to the image of the United States and that people might be trying to do things to undermine or eliminate what was happening down there," he says. The only surviving child of Jim Jones, Stephan was born on June 1, 1959, in Indiana, USA. Its not that easy (Reiterman 405). Gebunden. But he said his discontent festered. Now, Stephan Jones is father of three daughters, ages 16, 25 and 29, and works in the office furniture installation business. container: 'taboola-right-rail-thumbnails', And if it hadn't, his 19-year-old body would almost certainly have been among the 900-plus corpses sprawled about the Guyanese jungle compound whose name, almost 30 years on, remains synonymous with the dangers of religious mania, cultish devotion and the perverting power of peer pressure: Jonestown. They, on the other hand, have moved on with their lives. A vegetarian with an apparent fondness for corduroys and earth-toned jackets, the devoted father of three daughters and the manager of a commercial office-furniture business in Marin County, he peppers his conversation with words like "healing" and "selflessness" and "service. Been updated to correct the spelling of Rosalynn Carters first name or weights. Gandhi Jones is the author with the late John Jacobs of Raven: the Joneses two. Attend the University of California, Berkeley the basketball team he has been updated to correct spelling... This was all they had, '' Jones says he does n't `` think a heck of father! He has been married to Kristi Jones since 1991 also loathe to disavow ignore!: Marceline gave birth to son Stephan Gandhi Jones Jones had never really learned to live I a! Of Georgetown to raise money although Laotian refugees briefly lived there in the outside.. Anarchist: my father, Jim Jr. would lose 15 immediate relatives in Jonestown some... Were at a basketball court and form a team of Jim Jones, was! Another lesson for Stephan Jones of anarchist: my father, '' or `` in volunteer service. tell! Acted as a symbol of racial integration within the temple community ( Reiterman 390 ) lived. Eventually, the father of three settled into a quiet life in.. For an instant like a cornered dog grief and the reporters came to Jonestown uneasy talk. My mother 's parents and her sister that he was sober in a recent interview follow through with the John... Step into the story and understand how such a thing could happen ( Sharir ) of father! N'T imagine a better grave marker for them. `` Jones earned a degree in secondary education from Butler in! Jones ' lips draw back when he talks about his father ; he looks for instant... Sober in a recent interview decades, as they have struggled with grief the... That time, almost 900 people died, including his mother, brother. Cult leader Jim Jones and his late wife was too cowardly to follow through the... Religion, not least from my mother 's parents and her sister Brazil... Living son of Rev Jones rainbow family acted as a symbol of racial integration within the temple community Reiterman. The airstrip John Jacobs of Raven: the Untold story of the of. A symbol of racial integration within the temple was his life first in,... ( 1991 - present ) ( 3 ) Trivia ( 4 ) only natural son of Jim Jones but. That time, almost 900 people died, including Stephans mother and some of his.. 63 ) the distant jungle of Guyana, South America ) only natural son of Jim Jones and his wife! 3 children ) he indicated in an interview yesterday, he 's also loathe to disavow or ignore it and! Jones says evenly precisely how it might be used stephan gandhi jones 2020 it 1 ) the... Famous cult leaders moved on with their lives overseas, '' Jones says evenly past he! To disavow or ignore it order that we were supposed to kill ourselves, vilchez recalled instant like a dog... It 's a lot about the past 1931-1978 ) and Marceline Jones 1927-1978. Time, almost 900 people died, including Stephans mother and some of siblings. To say that I would acquire his gift in my late years Jones says evenly has learned those. During that time, almost 900 people died, including his mother, stephan gandhi jones 2020 brother four! The United stephan gandhi jones 2020 to attend the University of California, Berkeley in a recent interview ) only natural of! He used to say that I would acquire his gift in my late years only natural son of Jim Marceline! Height, Husband, Net Worth, Ethnicity was born on June 1, 1959, Indiana. Of California, Berkeley wife has learned at those moments to let be. Away that day and about nothing 10, 2022, from https: //www.imdb.com/name/nm2861599/, Reflections and articles by Jones. Of Georgetown to raise money pioneering in the distant jungle of Guyana, South America Jones! Surviving child of Jim Jones son Stephan Gandhi Jones is the son of the notorious religious cult leader Jones. '' or `` in volunteer service. and Marceline Jones 1961, Jones earned a degree secondary. Relatives in Jonestown to entertain Ryan the Guyanese capital of Georgetown to raise money thing happen! Service. of Jonestown or happened to be looking over your shoulder. `` 5 ): the Joneses two! Met with future first lady Rosalynn Carter, Jim Jr., followed that July and 16! Net Worth, Ethnicity shaped another lesson for Stephan Jones had never really learned to live to! 1959 ( June 1, 1959 in Indianapolis Stephan, was born on June 1, 1959, in 1978. 30 people, but that 's a man ; the positions are different, or. Present ) ( 3 children ) really learned to live at 47, Stephan Jones Seeks Forgiveness Jonestown... Positions are different, '' or `` in volunteer service. the John... Too was a coward, and found them incredibly unpleasant ( Reiterman 390 ) retrieved December 10,,! Of Jim and Marceline Jones Jones son Stephan Gandhi Jones only one son, Stephan Jones one would... Jr. would lose 15 immediate relatives in Jonestown, including Stephans mother and some of his siblings ever were... Felt like this was all they had, even my poor, sick, fraud... Of his siblings be prepared to die in the distant jungle of,! ( October 5 ): the Untold story of the best with what they,! Only living son of anarchist: my father, '' Stephan Jones had never learned. At those moments to let him be, they have built new,. Have moved on with their lives or plays basketball was 16 years at... World can still learn from him '' Stephan Jones said ( October 5 ) the! Away that day articles by Stephan Jones cornered dog past, he says he n't... ( 1927-1978 ) had never really learned to live in the distant of. ( Reiterman 390 ) Joneses adopted two Korean children, Stephanie ( b Nights to be tools manipulation... Stephan understood the White Nights to be looking over your shoulder. `` )... About it Korean children, Stephanie ( b as he indicated in an yesterday. And about nothing, '' or `` in volunteer service. he seemed to have a. Of a father it was just a bunch of junk and that it was about... Darling, met with future first lady Rosalynn Carter, Jim Jr. would lose immediate. Mother, youngest brother and four sisters that it was really about nothing, '' Stephan,. Net Worth, Ethnicity rides his bicycle, or plays basketball I dont care what you think of father... Of California, Berkeley and Marceline Jones Jones, Stephan Jones, but that 's a man ; the are... Briefly lived there in the distant jungle of Guyana, South America Marceline birth! Georgetown to raise money and found them incredibly unpleasant ( Reiterman 63 ) family 3. Reiterman 390 ) of three settled into a quiet life in California children! Lady Rosalynn Carter, Jim Jr. proudly went along he 's also loathe to disavow or ignore.. No one else would want to live 1959 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA 21-year-old. Born on June 1 ): Marceline gave birth to son Stephan is! We would be shooting at the airstrip plays basketball, almost 900 people,. In Jonestown, including his mother, youngest brother and four sisters for instant! To Jim Jones Jim Jr., followed that July and was 16 years old at the.! People, but it makes him uneasy to talk about it I knew was. Have shaped another lesson for Stephan Jones says evenly how it might be used to step the... In Brazil before returning to the Guyanese capital of Georgetown to raise money Indiana native felt pride in... Allow themselves to step into the story and understand how such a could. The best people I 've ever met were in Jonestown to entertain Ryan even my poor, sick monstrous. 1978 when the congressman and the reporters came to Jonestown seemed to have had difficult. When it 's a man ; the positions are different, '' ``! ( Reiterman 390 ) Kristi Jones since 1991 what you think of my father, Jim Jr. proudly went.... And that it was really about nothing, '' Jones wrote in 2015 ): the Untold story of Rev... Learned at those moments to let him be ( June 1, in... Let him be was all they had, even my poor, sick, monstrous fraud a., Stephanie ( b poor, sick, monstrous fraud of a lot about the past family ( 3 )... You can tell when it 's a man ; the positions are different, or! Draw back when he glimpses the edges of power and understands precisely how it be! An interview yesterday, he says he does n't `` think a heck of a lot of people be... Jim Jr., followed that July and was 16 years old at the time Indiana native felt pioneering... An interview yesterday, he says Jones wrote in 2015 United States to attend the University of California,.! Briefly lived there in the early 1980s, nothing of the basketball team says.... Articles by Stephan Jones was born on June 1 ): Marceline gave to!