WWNO skyline header graphic
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Local Newscast
Hear the latest from the WWNO/WRKF Newsroom.

The Life Of A Cult Investigator

David Sullivan. (Courtesy of Eric Brown)
David Sullivan. (Courtesy of Eric Brown)

A private investigator from San Francisco is being remembered for his unusual life. His obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle reads, in part:

David Sullivan dropped out of high school to manage a rock band in Mexico City and hung out on a Sioux reservation with a medicine man named Crow Dog. He built military radar in Gaddhafi’s Libya and stared down a notorious Brazilian drug lord in the slums of Rio. And he castrated bulls in Bolivia. He was perhaps more well-known as a San Francisco private investigator with an expertise in infiltrating cults.

David Sullivan died suddenly last month, just a day after a profile about him was published in Harper’s. The author of the profile, as well as a former colleague of Sullivan’s, join Here & Now’s Robin Young.

Guest

  • Nathaniel Rich, novelist and journalist who wrote a profile on David Sullivan. He tweets @NathanielRich.
  • Jennifer Stalvey, private investigator who often worked with David Sullivan.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

👋 Looks like you could use more news. Sign up for our newsletters.

* indicates required
New Orleans Public Radio News
New Orleans Public Radio Info