Above, a cover for They Call Me Lez, 1963, authored by Jo Ann Radcliff. The back of this, which you see below, reveals that Jo Ann Radcliff is in fact popular men’s magazine writer Joe Radcliff. Seems Jo Ann wrote as Joe for years, but outed herself for this book about a “searing social problem.” We doubt either Joe or Jo Ann were anything more than shell personae, as was often the case with this kind of literature, but we can’t confirm that suspicion. We’ll see if we can find more and circle back to this.
1954—First Church of Scientology Established
The first Scientology church, based on the writings of science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, is established in Los Angeles, California. Since then, the city has become home to the largest concentration of Scientologists in the world, and its ranks include high-profile adherents such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.