Did Ray Franz manage to live out a comfortable retirement from the proceeds of his books.

by joe134cd 35 Replies latest watchtower scandals

• 

  Nathan Natas

  I find it amusing and ironic that people who probably pirated their own copy of "COC" and/or "ISOCF" are now wondering if Ray enjoyed a rich and prosperous life with the "income" provided by the sale of his books.

  Now perhaps I'm being unfair. Perhaps the person raising this question is not one of those who were so EAGER to produce "free" digital versions of Ray's books. They might even claim to be shocked to learn that any member of the XJW community would parasitize the strenuous work of someone as "holy" as Ray Franz was.

  In the words of Madame Clinton, "at this point, what difference does it make?" You see both Ray and his widow are now dead and beyond any comfort you might offer.

  ...but if you have any money you'd like to donate to Ray, send it to me and I'll make sure he gets it.

  No, REALLY!
• 

  cappytan

  Since the book is no longer in print and copies for resale are rare, I have no qualms about pirating it.
• 

  steve2

  I think it is more likely he would have sustained finsncial losses over the years - especially in more recent years when free pdf copies of Crisis of Conscience came onto the net. I'd be surprised if he broke even.
• 

  blondie

  Ray went to work full-time for an elder in his new congregation in Alabama. He put in ten years so he could qualify for social security. That brother provided a small house for them. Eventually that jw da'd himself and was the ex-jw he was having dinner with (as well as Ray's wife Cynthia) that was the WTS basis for df'ing Ray but not Cynthia who was guilty of the same thing.

  They qualified for various benefits as older people through the state and federal system Some jws (Yes!) and ex-jws helped them out from time to time. A sister helped them have their own house built, Ed Dunlap (who was the Registrar of Gilead School) and was df'd about the same time came over and painted and papered their house more than once (the Dunlaps were in that business).

  Any monies for the book enabled Ray to break even. He had a young ex-jw that helped him with translation and the heavy lifting of the books and keeping his computer and printer in goo repair. What people paid, paid for more books to be printed.

  They lived frugal lives, had a used car that a local jw (YES!) would keep in good repair.

  Blondie
• 

  wifibandit

  According to http://www.commentarypress.com/

  Raymond Victor Franz Cynthia Marie Franz
  Born: May 8, 1922 Born: August 15, 1935
  Died: June 2, 2010 Died: December 29, 2013

  If someone downloads a copy of his books today, they are not taking anything from Him or His widow.

  One of my regrets is not waking up in time to meet him, hear him speak and kick a few buck his way. (I was slaving away at Bethel making no money myself.)
• 

  slimboyfat

  I bought 120 books from him. Wish I'd bought 10,000, they were going for $50 at one point, I'd have made a fortune!
• 

  Vidiot

  @ slimboyfat...

  How much would you have cut Ray in for?
• 

  steve2

  Once any book is freely available on pdf format on line, sales plummet.

  The small publisher does not have the resources to put out 'cease and desist orders' that larger publishers can.
• 

  Tenacious

  Nathan Natas wrote:

  I find it amusing and ironic that people who probably pirated their own copy of "COC" and/or "ISOCF" are now wondering if Ray enjoyed a rich and prosperous life with the "income" provided by the sale of his books.
  

  If Ray could have given his books away he would have. Physical copies of Crisis of Conscience and In Search for Christian Freedom are rare but the 4th edition of CoC is really rare. Many of these are being advertised for hundreds and sellers won't accept nothing less.

  Yep, I'm okay having received the digital 4th edition of CoC.
• 

  slimboyfat

  I just paid the wholesale price, I forget what it was, $7 maybe?

  Oh they're still selling for $70. I could have retired on 10,000 copies!