To the editor: Upon learning of the death of veteran Los Angeles Times reporter Bob Pool, I remembered how he had transformed from a sinner to a saint in my eyes.
In the 1980s, he covered the Church Universal and Triumphant led by Elizabeth Clare Prophet, whom I called “Guru Ma,” having arrived in California to join her cult at age 21. In our eyes, Pool was part of the “dark forces.” planning to bring down our sect. We sang against him and the villain LA Times for many years.
After leaving the cult at 27, I became a writer and began freelancing for The Times, my stories in the vein of Pool's people-centred reporting.
One day he called me, marveling at an article I published about an elderly auto mechanic. We talked about how we were both determined to reveal the extraordinary in ordinary characters, and of course I told him that I had feverishly cried out against him for years.
Pool's stories helped me become the writer I am, despite my efforts to purge him of his supposed bad habits.
R. Daniel Foster, Los Angeles
