But, essentially, I wanted him to know the ways that he had harmed me and the ways in which I will always have to live with that, but also that he didn't ruin me. I think that all of my friends wanted to do that, to not give him that satisfaction. Chilling . . . eloquent . . . a powerful portrayal of a young man’s ability to emerge whole from an experience intended to break him.” — Publishers Weekly The ground under them was never firm after they met Larry Ray, Levin says;he wonders if it ever will be. She added: "In the end, it is possible to heal from this kind of trauma and there is help. Zach provided that safe space in the documentary and I also had the support of my therapists, social workers, case workers and attorneys along the way. I'm just excited to get to do normal things, it's as granular as just the joy of getting to go outside and enjoy a nice day because I want to go to talk to a friend [and] not having to be afraid of saying the wrong thing and being hurt for it," he said.

Sarah Lawrence is small liberal arts school located near Yonkers, New York. It has been known as a prestigious college and only admitted men in 1968. If they listened to Ray, and took his way of thinking to heart, he promisedthey would gain clarity, something in short supply for people ages 18 to 22 at a key turning point in their lives. With fascinating detail, Slonim Woods 9 takes us on a tour of the lower depths of human vulnerability and manipulation. Levin’s vivid storytelling and poetic sense make it a great read, without ever upstaging its commitment to the slippery, open-ended process of self-discovery and healing.” —Amy Gerstler, author of Scattered at Sea I’ve read a lot of books about cults and feel I have good understanding of how they operate. I have empathy for the folks who find themselves wrapped up in groups like this. But this book…wow, I am struggling to understand what happened here and why.And now, one of the former members of the group, Daniel Barban Levin, has written his account of what went on during those tumultuous, painful years of his young adulthood. It's an intense tale of coercion, humiliation, gaslighting and physical torment. It's also one of hard-won survival, and creating a life after the unimaginable. Salon spoke to Barban Levin recently via Zoom about writing his way to a new narrative, when he knew he had to walk away, why nobody sets out to join a cult — and what really happened at Slonim Woods 9, the name of a dormitory on Sarah Lawrence's campus from which Barban Levin took his memoir title. Levinsaid he wept as he watched the announcement of the charges against Ray, realizing the abusehadn't stopped when he left years earlier. He instructed Levin to remove his pants and attached the garrote around his scrotum like a noose. He slowly tightened it, the garrote digging into Levin’s skin, as Ray demanded, “Why did you sabotage Talia’s law school apps?” Let’s settle this once and for all,” Ray screamed at the terrified 20 year old. “If you like it, we’ll know you’re gay.”

He said: "I think that when people think of a cult survivor, a cult follower, usually what they imagine in their minds doesn't look like me, doesn't look like my friends, and because of that it was very hard for me to understand myself within that position. To say this is a cult, this man is a cult leader who's abusing me.

Daniel Barban Levin 'Would be Curious' To Meet Talia Ray Again After 'Stolen Youth'

When Levin called home and talked to his father, explaining how Ray is taking care of them, and helping him “to figure out things” in “a mini boot camp for the mind,” there was a pause on the other end of the line. Are you following the case and the key people involved in it, or have you distanced yourself from that narrative? I got into this because I didn't feel like I had any outlets where I could be really open and vulnerable about what felt to me like the messy questions that I had never gotten to talk about with anyone. If I could change the world, it would be to make a world where people feel like it's possible to be more open and that the people that they're open with will be compassionate and that shame will not come into the picture.

She was our friend and a roommate," Levin said. "We would be the villains if we, our sort of bougie private school, Sarah Lawrence selves, said: 'No, no, no. You've gone through this horrible trauma. You lived in homeless shelters just to stand by your dad. You paid your way and got yourself into the school and now he's finally out. But you figure something else out.'" Ray made it clear he hadpowerful friends. There he was in photos with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, with President George H.W. Bush. There was a letter somewhere, they were told, thanking Larry for singlehandedly ending the war in Kosovo. But, also, I get to explore the things I love. I am a writer and Larry tried to take writing away from me and I get to spend everyday writing and I teach other people how to process their own trauma through writing, that's incredibly fulfilling."Levin added: "I hope that also having these conversations can help other people who've had these types of experiences [and] start to process, so [I'm] just trying to turn this awful thing that happened into something that can help make a world where it's less likely to happen." In September 2010, at the beginning of the academic year at Sarah Lawrence College, a sophomore named Talia Ray asked her roommates if her father could stay with them for a while. No one objected. Her father, Larry Ray, was just released from prison, having spent three years behind bars after a conviction during a bitter custody dispute. Famous Sarah Lawrence alumni include former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, journalist Barbara Walters, Yoko Ono, and "Star Wars" director J.J. Abrams.

I'm thinking a lot about how we can take this experience and try to do the most good with it and create community for other survivors," he shared. "I think there's lot of talk about abuse, and there's not maybe as much talk about recovery." It has now been two years since this story first published. It had an immediate impact when it was published. It became a criminal investigation, a case that is still going on. What was the reaction directly to you after this came out?Ray was an ex-convict preying on his daughters’ roommates. He referred to his important position in our government and/or army called the DIA or Defense Intelligence Agency. He used this position to impress these college students. Why didn’t someone look him up at the beginning? Slonim Woods 9 is a two-story townhouse, one of 11 “cooperative living units” where students have their own bedrooms — four upstairs, four downstairs — and share a living room and kitchen.