ICSA TODAY 14
ICSA’s Lifetime Achievement Award “honors
individuals who have, to an exceptional degree,
embodied in their work ICSA’s values of openness,
courtesy, and dialogue, and who have made academic
and/or other exceptional contributions to the field of
cultic studies.”
Henry David Thoreau famously said in Walden, “The
mass of men live lives of quiet desperation.” Joseph
Kelly, the recipient of ICSA’s Lifetime Achievement
Award for 2022, is not such a person. Joe has lived a
life of quiet dedication. He has done so much without
a shred of self-aggrandizement that it is easy not to
realize how much he has done.
Joe’s first encounter with the cult awareness
community was while he was still in a cultic group. He
attended two programs about cults before he could
no longer suppress his sense of dissonance. What he
was hearing at the conferences was just too close to
his own group experience. This led him to re-evaluate
his commitment to his guru and then move on to a life
of self-determination.
Within weeks of exiting, Joe was traveling with Kevin
Garvey, one of his mentors, sharing his experiences
ICSA 2022
Conference
Awards
ICSA 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award
Presentation by Patrick Ryan
ICSA’s Lifetime Achievement Award “honors
individuals who have, to an exceptional degree,
embodied in their work ICSA’s values of openness,
courtesy, and dialogue, and who have made academic
and/or other exceptional contributions to the field of
cultic studies.”
Henry David Thoreau famously said in Walden, “The
mass of men live lives of quiet desperation.” Joseph
Kelly, the recipient of ICSA’s Lifetime Achievement
Award for 2022, is not such a person. Joe has lived a
life of quiet dedication. He has done so much without
a shred of self-aggrandizement that it is easy not to
realize how much he has done.
Joe’s first encounter with the cult awareness
community was while he was still in a cultic group. He
attended two programs about cults before he could
no longer suppress his sense of dissonance. What he
was hearing at the conferences was just too close to
his own group experience. This led him to re-evaluate
his commitment to his guru and then move on to a life
of self-determination.
Within weeks of exiting, Joe was traveling with Kevin
Garvey, one of his mentors, sharing his experiences
ICSA 2022
Conference
Awards
ICSA 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award
Presentation by Patrick Ryan
