Patricia Ryan

Patricia Ryan is the name of:

See also

Cult Awareness Network

The Cult Awareness Network (CAN) was an organization created by deprogrammer Ted Patrick that provided information on groups that it considered to be cults, as well as support and referrals to deprogrammers. It was founded in the wake of the November 18, 1978 deaths of members of the group Peoples Temple and assassination of Congressman Leo J. Ryan in Jonestown, Guyana, and was shut down in 1996. Its name and assets were later bought by a group of private donors (some of whom were Scientologists) in a bankruptcy proceedings; with the transfer of ownership, the organization was renamed the New Cult Awareness Network.

CAN and its representatives were known for being highly critical of Scientology, Landmark Education, and some other groups and new religious movements, referring to some of these groups as "destructive cults".

History

Ted Patrick founded the FREECOG organization, later known as the Citizen's Freedom Foundation, in 1971 before becoming successively the Citizen's Freedom Foundation ("CFF"), the "Cult Awareness Network of the Citizen's Freedom", and finally the Cult Awareness Network, renamed in the wake of the 1978 Jonestown mass murder-suicide. CAN was initially directed by Patricia Ryan, the daughter of US Congressman Leo J. Ryan (D-Millbrae, California), who died from gunfire while investigating conditions at the Jonestown compound.

Patricia Ryan (author)

Patricia Burford Ryan (born August 9, 1954 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States) is an American writer of romance novels as Patricia Ryan and mystery novels as P.B. Ryan. She is the twin sister of the romance writer Pamela Burford.

She won a Golden Heart award in 1994 in the category "short contemporary series" and two Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Awards. Her book Silken Threads also won a RITA, the top award of the Romance Writers of America, for "Best Long Historical Romance" of 2000.

Biography

Personal life

Patricia Burford and her twin Pamela Burford were born on August 9, 1954 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Patricia formerly worked in the publishing industry in New York City and Rochester, NY, as both a marketing manager and editor. She lives in Rochester with her husband Richard. Together they have two daughters, Morgan and Leigh.

Writing career

As Patricia Ryan, she wrote seventeen romances, both contemporary and historical. Under this name, she won a Golden Heart award in 1994 in the category "short contemporary series" and two Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Awards. Her book Silken Threads also won a RITA, the top award of the Romance Writers of America, for "Best Long Historical Romance" of 2000.