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'The Allure of Immortality' Historically Profiles Koreshan Worshipers

We explore Lyn Millner’s recently published book “The Allure of Immortality—an American Cult, a Florida Swamp and a Renegade Prophet.” It profiles the Koreshans—a now extinct celibate communal group that settled in Southwest Florida.
They believed we live inside a hollow earth, and that marriage was a form of slavery toward women. The group shared workloads, food and childcare. Koreshans also worshiped their prophet, Cyrus Teed.

The book historically profiles the Koreshans from their start in Chicago to their eventual settlement in Estero. It reads almost like a novel, though.

Millner is an associate professor of journalism at Florida Gulf Coast University. She’s also written and produced stories for NPR, the New York Times, USA Today, the Miami Herald and the Oxford American.

And now she’s author of “The Allure of Immortality.”

Jessica Meszaros is a reporter and host of Morning Edition at WUSF Public Media, and former reporter and host of All Things Considered for WGCU News.
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