The father of Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige is going to write a book about his son. The 79-year-old Ron just signed a contract with St. Martin's Press for his book that will be entitled "If He Dies, He Dies," according to Daily Mail Online.
The book's title holds significant meaning to Ron, who was reportedly put under surveillance for 18 months by his son after he left the church in 2012. David Miscavige apparently paid private investigators $10,000 a week to keep track of his estranged father's activities, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In one instance, the men David Miscavige hired saw his father grasp his chest while he was in his car. One of them, Dwayne S. Powell, called David and asked him what to do.
"If he dies, he dies," was David's reply. Powell was ordered not to invervene in any way.
Eventually, Powell was arrested in July 2013 when police got a call about a suspicious man lurking in a neighborhood near Milwaukee. Police found two rifles, several handguns, a silencer and 2,000 rounds of ammunition in his vehicle, along with a couple of laptop computers and a GPS tracking device.
David Miscavige denied knowing Powell. His attorney, Michael Lee Hertzbert, said the Scientology leader is not connected with Powell in any way.
"Please be advised that Mr. Miscavige does not know Mr. Powell, has never heard of Mr. Powell, has never met Mr. Powell, has never spoken to Mr. Powell, never hired Mr. Powell and never directed any investigations by Mr. Powell," Hertzberg said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
When news about the new book came out, the Church of Scientology released an official statement through spokesman Karen Pouw: "Mr. Miscavige has always taken care of his father and continues to do so. Beyond that, as a matter of policy, neither the Church nor Mr. Miscavige comments on members of his family. The Church knows nothing beyond media reports about any purported book."
The statement also commented about the surveillance report against the older Miscavige. "As for the purported emergency incident involving an investigator and the second-hand account of an alleged conversation containing a despicably false quote, Mr. Miscavige's attorney, Michael Lee Hertzberg, is on record stating that Mr. Miscavige does not know the investigator," Pouw said. "So let me be clear: No such conversation with Mr. Miscavige ever took place," she said, Daily Mail Online reported.
Ron Miscavige joined the Church of Scientology in the 1970s in the hope of finding a cure for son David's asthma. After some time, the Miscaviges became part of the church. David Miscavige rose to leadership and became head of the Church of Scientology after founder L. Rob Hubbard died in 1986, according to U.S. Magazine.
David helped establish the church as an official religion, which gave it a tax-exempt status.
