 By 1979 , an amateur researcher , Michael Shannon , had gathered " a mountain of material which included some files that no one else had bothered to get copies of – for example , the log books of the Navy ships that Hubbard had served on , and his father 's Navy service file . " Although Shannon was unable to find a publisher , he sent a hundred @-@ page portfolio of materials , including copies of some of Hubbard 's naval and college records , to a number of " concerned individuals " . His work also found its way to the Church of Scientology 's archivist , Gerry Armstrong , who was undertaking a project to research an official authorized biography of L. Ron Hubbard . According to Jon Atack , " the archive largely confirmed Shannon 's material . Armstrong and Shannon reached the same eventual destination from opposed starting points . " In October 1980 , Omar Garrison , a writer who had previously written two books favorable to Scientology , was hired by the Church to write Hubbard 's biography based on the materials that Armstrong had collected . 
