Moon People: A smug Dearborn college kid gets schooled by the road and the cult

2:30 a.m., AUGUST 20, 1979, 19-year-old Ted Granger of Detroit has just escaped from the Moonies, a religious cult in California. On a dark, secluded highway, someone picks him up hitchhiking. Who could it be at this ungodly hour?

With wry humor, Moon People recounts Ted's time in the cult and the road trips leading up to it. Major stops are Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Colorado, and California. Do these adventures foreshadow what's to come? Moon People is a fun, coming-of-age tale about family, religion, and a perfect world that doesn't exist. (Will it ever?)

It comes from the unique perspective of Henry Ford's hometown---Dearborn, Michigan---where the residents celebrate history, hi-tech (as it relates to cars), and religion. There, family is first.

• Based on a true story, details drawn from the author's travel journal.
• Extensively researched, Contains a loaded Endnotes section.
• Fun and nostalgic. Packed with references to '60s and '70s pop culture (music, movies, books etc.).
• Beautiful illustrations by Dale Trujillo and Dan Grajek.
• Keen and hilarious observations of a notorious religious cult-from the inside.
• A rare peek at Dearborn, most notably its vibrant Lebanese Shia Muslim and Polish Catholic communities.
• Afterword section on two remarkable world figures who inspired and influenced Dearborn from the late '70s to our present day-"The Vanished Imam" (Lebanon's Musa al-Sadr) and "The Polish Pope" (John Paul ll).