Member of the Family: My Story of Charles Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties

One can never truly be free of the past. In 2008, Dianne Lake experienced this firsthand. She was contacted by a detective in LA who was looking into the possibility of human remains surfacing in the haunts of Lake’s former paramour, Charles Manson. Lake had divorced herself from the evil machinations of the Manson family and begun a life of her own. Lake was raised in Minnesota, the daughter of a struggling artist father and homemaker mother. Her father’s unsettled nature led to a rift in the family, followed by an eventual move to California. Lake grew up too fast as her parents were consumed by the drug and hippie culture, leading to a quasi-emancipation of Dianne while she was in her early teenage years. Lake’s meeting Manson was almost too good to be true. She became one of his harem, becoming witness and participant to their nomadic maneuverings. Manson veered between lyrical minstrel with stars in his eyes to domineering psychotic in less than a year’s time. The fun singalongs devolved into creepy crawling, love into full blown paranoia. The stage was set for Helter Skelter.

Dianne Lake’s story is heartrending. Her tale is told with unabashed honesty, self-deprecation, and occasional humor. Her life is a cautionary tale for the lost youth seeking love and acceptance. A great new addition to the Manson Family history.