Naples Press Club : Member

Chapter 1: The Illumination

“Brilliantly written and strangely moving. Millner has resurrected the lost history of a cult devoted to a utopian vision as pure as it was outlandish.”—Steve Almond, author of God Bless America: Stories   “A fascinating look at the American search for meaning and ultimate answers. Millner writes with grace and makes history an adventure.”—Dan Wakefield, author of New York in the Fifties   “Teed may have wanted a shiny new world, but what Millner provides is a guide to an old lost one, a picture of a vanished century when science, religion, journalism, and social movements collided in an unending, and totally fascinating, brawl.”—Madeleine Blais, author of In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle   “Those seeking an understanding of what makes otherwise sensible individuals willing to give up everything in service of the apparently outlandish notions of a charismatic true believer like Teed will find this carefully researched volume satisfying and memorable.”—Les Standiford, author of Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean   “A riveting tale of a long-neglected part of Florida’s history. Written with style and panache, this well-researched book is a terrific read.”—Susan and Martin Tolchin, coauthors of Pinstripe Patronage: Political Favoritism from the Clubhouse to the White House and Beyond   “Millner’s marvelous chronicle of the peripatetic and resolute Koreshans is provocative, intriguing, and so much stranger than fiction. You may pause, you may shake your head, you may throw up your arms, but you will not put down this book until you’re done.”—John Dufresne, author of No Regrets, Coyote: A Novel     For five days in December 1908 the body of Cyrus Teed lay in a bathtub at a beach house just south of Fort Myers, Florida. His followers, the Koreshans, waited for signs that he was coming back to life. They watched hieroglyphics emerge on his skin and observed what looked like the formation of a third arm. They saw his belly fall and rise with breath, even though his swollen tongue sealed his mouth. As his corpse turned black, they declared that their leader was transforming into the Egyptian god Horus.             Teed was a charismatic and controversial guru who at the age of 30 had been “illuminated” by an angel in his electro-alchemical laboratory. At the turn of the twentieth century, surrounded by the marvels of the Second Industrial Revolution, he proclaimed himself a prophet and led 200 people out of Chicago and into a new age. Or so he promised.             The Koreshans settled in a mosquito-infested scrubland and set to building a communal utopia inside what they believed was a hollow earth—with humans living on the inside crust and the entire universe contained within. According to Teed’s socialist and millennialist teachings, if his people practiced celibacy and focused their love on him, he would return after death and they would all become immortal.              Was Teed a visionary or villain, savior or two-bit charlatan? Why did his promises and his theory of “cellular cosmogony” persuade so many? In The Allure of Immortality, Lyn Millner weaves the many bizarre strands of Teed’s life and those of his followers into a riveting story of angels, conmen, angry husbands, yellow journalism, and ultimately, hope.

The Allure of Immortality: An American Cult, a Florida Swamp, and a Renegade Prophet

Located just south of Fort Myers and north of Naples on the Southwest Florida coast, Florida Gulf Coast University encompasses 800 acres on which academic buildings, residence halls and athletics facilities share space with wetlands, pinewoods and boardwalks in a natural setting. FGCU serves 16,000 students and offers more than 95 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. It emphasizes a university-wide commitment to sustainability and service learning, with students having completed more than 4 million hours of service since the university opened in 1997. With six colleges, FGCU is committed to serving Southwest Florida with academic programs designed to meet the workforce demands of the five-county region. Growing interdisciplinary programs include The Water School and the Daveler & Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship. 

Florida Gulf Coast University

Lyn Millner founded FGCU’s journalism program and is the author of “The Allure of Immortality: An American Cult, a Florida Swamp, and a Renegade Prophet,” about the Koreshans of Estero, Florida. Her specialties include narrative journalism, editing and news literacy. Her radio stories have been broadcast on NPR’s Morning Edition and Weekend Edition, and on American Public Media's Marketplace and Weekend America.

Journalism

Cult Science

Creative Writing

Editing

Journalism History

News Literacy

Mobile Journalism

Grammar

Science Writing

Print Journalism

Narrative Journalism

Audio Journalism

Personal Website

Changing Florida - Preparing for an Unstable Future on the Gulf Coast (Student Capstone Project)

New link between defunct Southwest Florida cult and Branch Davidians in Waco

Social media baby car seat hoax triggers panic in parking lots

Many protesting Lee Schools mask mandate admit to having no children

Local doctor removing health articles after claims of misinformation

Cape Coral doctor part of COVID-19 vaccine ‘Disinformation Dozen’

Making Sense of the Media in the time of COVID-19

Wade Wilson demanding paid interview

The Critical Importance of Media Literacy in Today's World

FGCU class fact-checking campaigns

Five best: Jeff Guinn on books about cults

'QAnon': Who they are and what they believe

3 Song Stories - 003 - Lyn Millner

Metaphysical America: Spirituality and Health Movements During the Gilded Age

Florida Histories

Turning Facts into Story

News Literacy: What’s an Editor to Do?

Lyn Millner

Lyn Millner 1

Lyn Millner 2

Lyn Millner 3

Lyn Millner 4

Face-to-Face: Conversations with Journalists

Daniel and Janet K. Warner Journalism Endowed Fund

Expert in news literacy, journalism, writing and cults

Lyn Millner and her father sign copies of her book at her childhood bookstore in Jackson, Mississippi.

Lyn Millner signing THE ALLURE OF IMMORTALITY at Lemuria Books

Select Inquiry Type