Slonim Woods 9: A Memoir

In September 2010, at Sarah Lawrence College, sophomore Talia Ray asked her roommates if her father could stay in their dorm, Slonim Woods 9. Larry Ray, recently released from prison after a three-year sentence related to a custody dispute, arrived and remained for the academic year. Through repeated counseling sessions and "family meetings," Ray convinced his daughter's friends that he alone could help them "achieve clarity." He eventually persuaded them to move with him to a small Manhattan apartment, where he exercised control through blackmail, extortion, and ritualized humiliation. After a decade, Larry Ray was indicted on charges of extortion, sex trafficking, forced labor, and money laundering. Daniel Barban Levin was one of the original Slonim Woods 9 residents. This memoir documents his two years under Ray's influence, tracing how a group of college friends were drawn into a cult largely unnoticed by the outside world. The book inspired the Hulu docuseries Stolen Youth, directed by Zach Heinzerling and co-produced by Levin.