Interview with Talk of the Palm Beaches on 95.9FM

Patricia recently talked with Penny Pompei, Host of Talk of the Palm Beaches on 95.9FM about her book Little Sister .

Cults all share common traits, the first of which is an authoritarian, but charming, leader who is adored by his (or her) followers. Think of any cult in recent history - Jim Jones and his Guyana mass suicide, David Koresh and his Branch Dividians, even Charles Manson and his murderous acolytes: they all were charismatic leaders attracting otherwise normal everyday families who followed along with their children. The ending is never pretty.

Today's guest, Patricia Chadwick, was born into a cult led by an ex-communicated Catholic Priest. It wasn't called a cult and no one inside the "compound" considered it to be a cult, but when you consider the 6 common traits of cults, you can check off each one, including the most heinous one involving sex. Either an abstinence from, free sex for all, or free sex only for the leader.

For those children living "inside", they never thought of it as a cult and for Patricia, it was many decades after she left her family and the compound before she finally understood, and admitted to herself, that yes, she had been raised inside a cult. It is a fascinating story and a disturbing book about her life and her parents.