ello, my name is Maurice D. Shannon III, and here is a little bit about myself:

     Everyone calls me Dick. I entered Scientology late in life--57 years old. I had done much living. At the age of 35 years I had been married, had seven children, gotten divorced and remarried. I was married to my second wife, Doris, for 27 years. She died on March 26 of this year, 1998. We had a total of ten children from previous marriages. My children are Maurice D. IV (Rusdy), Patrick, Bridget, Colleen, Laurie, Neal, and Casey. Doris' children are Lynda, Michael, and Keith Taylor. These children produced for us a total of eighteen beautiful grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

          I have spent all of my wage earning years working in, managing, and now owning a family owned hardware business which is now 128 years old. I love to travel, garden, dance, eat, and drink. My favorite saying comes from my Cajun background and culture: "I like nothing in moderation."

          I got into Scientology by reading the book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health more than ten years ago and then waiting more than five years before finding an organization close enough to attend. I had been excommunicated from the church of my childhood because of getting divorced and remarried. I was looking for a spiritual philosophy that made sense for me in this lifetime. I knew that I was not a bad person.

          Since the recent death of my wife I have been putting a new live together with the help of my friends in Scientology. My future life does look promising. As I have already stated: "I like nothing in moderation."