with these authors, people whose work i admire to deeply, and being here tonight is such a privilege, such an honor. really grateful to the national book foundation for recognizing my work and putting me in touch with all of these writers. >> host: you're representing the west coast tonight. >> guest: i guess so. yeah, i am. that's right. well, george packer, i think, spent some time on the west coast. but, right, i flew in yesterday, and i'm still standing. a little jet lagged, but still standing with all this excitement. >> host: wendy lower is one of the five finalists for the nonfiction book award this evening. could you hold up your medal for us so we could see that up close a little bit? >> guest: i received this medal last night. we had aer is mopeny where -- ceremony where we received these and these lovely gift bags, and the judges crafted a beautiful citation and a certificate. so i'm going to proudly display that in my office when i get

back to claremont mckenna college. >> host: wendy lower, thanks for spending a few minutes with us on booktv, and good luck tonight. >> guest: thank you very much. >> host: all right, thank you. there are there are. [inaudible conversations] >> guest: how are you? >> host: thanks for joining us here on booktv. "going clear." first of all, where'd you get the title? >> guest: well, it's a term from scientology. l. ron hubbard came up with the concept that if you could purge one side of your mind of all the knew row cease and fears and so on through scientology, you would become clear. in other words, you'd be kind of a superhuman. you would no longer get colds, your intelligence would be higher, and, you know, live forever. it was an interesting concept, but there weren't any actual clues he could produce to prove his case. >> host: how much time did you spend on this book, and what was it like researching the church

of scientology? >> guest: you know, just as a repeated task it was really difficult because there were a lot of people that were quite frightened, and they were afraid of punishment by the church, or they were afraid of losing family members that would never talk to them again. and also something i'd never really run into like this before, so many key people had signed nondisclosure agreements with the church and were legal he obligated not to talk. it would cost them millions and millions of dollars to talk to me. some actually did. and many people who had never spoken before actually confided their stories to me. i was really grateful for that. but it was, it was wrenching. >> host: why is it that the church of scientology has such a foothold in hollywood? >> guest: well, it was set up this hollywood. it was designed to be a church for celebrities who then in turn would sell the church to other people. and they sought out celebrities,

early on they had a list of like marlene dietrich, walt disney, bob hope, some of the most famous people in the world, and they did get some movie stars and people like that into the church, and they use them as pitch men for their religion in same way as wheaties on a cereal box. >> host: did you ever fear for your safety working on this book? >> guest: no, i don't like to think about those things. hi last book was about al-qaeda. but i think if al-qaeda ever got lawyers in it, it would be a really dangerous organization. >> host: lawrence wright, another staff writer for the new yorker. three of the finalists. >> guest: three of the five in our category is a testament to the fact that that magazine still has the resources and the courage to give writers a chance. >> host: congratulations. >> guest: thanks again. [inaudible conversations] >>

>> host: and joining us now on booktv is a very familiar face, and that's maya angelou. >> guest: yes, sir. >> host: what do you think about getting this lifetime achievement award? >> guest: it's a wonderful, it's a wonderful treat. it's a blessing, and i'm gratefulful for it. and the important thing is to stay in an attitude of gratitude, and tsa what i am. . -- and that's what i am. i'm just grateful that writers also think i'm worthy of it. >> host: how often do you get letters from people around the country that just want to write to you and talk to you? >> guest: well, i realize that now i have some -- what do they call it, a group of people who like me a lot. >> host: groupies. >> guest: yes, i do, i have -- i'm now, i have a lot of people

who, well, i have what do you call it, a tan club and fan -- a fan club and fans. i was told if i could get a million people in a facebook, it would be a hot. be a lot. i now have 4,700,000. >> host: people who follow you on facebook? >> guest: yes, it's a blessing. >> host: congratulations. >> guest: thank you very much. >> host: are you still working? are you still writing? >> guest: of course. i don't know what else to do. [laughter] i would like -- i mean, if i knew anything else, i would do it, but i'm a writer. i'm a teacher who can write. >> host: the room is starting to fill up a little built, and we've got another finalist here that we want to talk to in the nonfiction category, nonfiction category. and representing the commonwealth of virginia and university of virginia is alan taylor. first of all,