- This inspiring LP is called Reaching for the Stars. Glenn is a noted motivational speaker with a home-spun Southern flavor, so why not start selling make up ala Avon or Amway? I bet it seemed like a good idea at the time. This is Glenn’s rarest record by far. You will love the primitive editing of the audience’s applause. Incredibly strange, and very entertaining.
I also found this on the interwebs: “The founder of the ”Dare to be Great” motivational program has been sentenced to seven years in prison for using an illegal pyramid scheme to bilk people out of thousands of dollars. Glenn W. Turner, 53 years old, was sentenced along with Edward G. Rechtor by Superior Court Judge Bernard J. Dougherty. Mr. Turner and Mr. Rechtor, who also received seven years, were convicted in July of 19 counts of conspiracy, fraud and promoting a pyramid scheme.”
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gojohnnygo dot com 
I was a hippie when I got involved with Glenn Turner and learned about Koscot Interplanetary, Inc. It’s a few chapters in a book I wrote called American Karma – Twilight of the Marijuana Gods. I’m about to promote it big time and when the sales roll in I’d love to buy that CD. Any chance I can use those images in promoting my book (with credit to your company?) Maybe a joint promotion?
Doug, sure, go ahead! -Johnny
Thanks! I’ll let you know when the promotion begins so you can download the book for free on Kindle.
I was a full distributor in the early 70’s . It was a adventure Dare to Be Great , Dare to be different.yea I was in that one to.Glenn W Turner was one hell of a sales Rep.I learned a lot just hanging out with these nuts. It was a lot of fun.The unstoppable Glenn W. Turner I wonder what happened with him.
Well, he went to jail, just google his name!
So did a lot of OTHER “GREAT People”….. Thank You Glenn
Great man, gwt,…great products great biz-plan, …i made much $$$ …legally!
I miss those great days.
DTBG, GWT, made me a better man, better salesman, better husband, better christian…etc
Me too… The Gemini that I am…!!!
Hey, good for you. I know some people did really well. I got involved towards the end and it was a disaster. Funny though, in retrospect. The book is on sale for .99 cents right now, on Kindle or digital. Just google marijuana gods or the book’s full name.
Glenn W. Turner: Conman or saint?
That’s the name of that book now I remember.He was both..
ONE OF A KIND….”Great MAN”.
I got into Koscot in the late 1960s, and I can say that I did not loose a dime. I was only 18 at the time, but by doing what I was told to do, and following the steps laid out I did great. I was the only 18 year old that I knew that owned his own house, and drove a 3 year old paid for Cadillac, and had $100.00 bills in my wallet.
People want to tear Glen down, they want to call him a crook, and a conman, because they fail to look at the real Glen W. Turner. Glen had an honest heart, all he really wanted was to help people, show them that they can be and have anything they want, if they believe in themselves, and take action on what they believe.
It is said, in many places, by many different people, in many different ways, including the Bible, that if you help enough people to get what they want, you can have anything you want. And this is the principle that Glen taught.
I will never believe that Glen set out to create an illegal business plan, for his own purpose and gain. Yes; his business plan was deemed illegal by the law, yes, he should have checked it out more thoroughly before exposing people to it. But I never had a gun pointed at me, and made to join, and I also could have had it checked out myself, but didn’t. So, that means I was just as guilty as he was. So how can I blame Glen for loosing everything I had worked for?
That is the difference between losers and successful people. Losers always blame others for decisions that they make, while successful people take the responsibility for their own decisions. Losers dwell on what they lost, the successful dwell on what they learned, and move on.
So, let us look at Glen W. Turner, the person, not the business plan. Look at what Glen was teaching. Because it is rock solid information, and by following it, you will be a better person tomorrow, than you are today.
Yes I am a fan of Glen W. Turner, I always have been, and I always will be. So, thank you Glen, for teaching me what you did, and making me what I am today.
Bob S.
YES!! Me TOO! If People Paid to Be Distributors, They Had No Excuse. The (Evil) Powers that BE (Legally) “Created the Refund IDEA” Which Was VERY WRONG!! And Lazy People Jumped all over that Like “FOOD STAMPS”.
My late husband invested money ( $2000. we didn’t have) thinking he would be able to pay back the people he borrowed from in a short time, didn’t happen. We lost our gas station business our credit, and the friends he promised to pay back. In 1973 we filed with the court and our sponsor assured us that we would get back most of our investment, that never happened. Where is Glen Turner now, bet he had more to show than any of us low people on the pyramid that never recovered a penny. Elaine
Yeah, that was most people’s experience. The thing about a Pyramid Scheme is that people who get in at the top of the pyramid tend to do well, but those who get in at the middle or top lose everything.
I was a trainer for this company. Yes, one of the motivators that gave a demo we called “Alice” which would tell the new people what their people would earn by selling so much a week. I was later employed to train the girls that would go out and sell the cosmetics . My husband actually was the one who joined, but I guess someone saw my potential as a sales person or motivator. I saw many things happen inside this company with the people. Money borrowed and lost, men and women leaving their jobs to do this full time. But, the worst I think was the marriages ruined. I know of men who had affairs and some even left their wives for women they met in meetings or picked up somewhere after the meetings. Some women did the same. We were in from the beginning and made fair money, but I ended up being the bread winner for awhile. My husband was a college graduate and we owned our own business so we were not like some who went into what was foreign to them. I will end by saying. Koscot ruined our lives, and we suffer emotionally even now, some 40 years later. P.S. I saw this in different states as I traveled to different meeting places.
I was the Asst. Area Mgr. of WesWare (stainless steel cookware). in Dallas. Tx, in 1972. I was 20 years old when I joined the company. I made some money (not a lot), worked a lot of hours; & eventually totaled my car (lack of sleep). Was I angry? Not at all.
Glen W. Turner “exploited” people (to believe in themselves), which back then was unheard of (a belief that we are “different” from our current “learned”:beliefs system of people that we associate with) . He was just “ahead of his time”. “Self development” is done even more so today in many businesses by Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins; & many others.
Holiday Magic (William Penn Patrick) was the predecessor to Glen’s companies: Dare To Be Great, Koscot, WesWare , in “pyramid sales marketing” (back then). It’s still used today- Network Marketing. Amway, later in time, was found to NOT be a company that used “pyramid sales” marketing. “Societies” values & beliefs change over time.
Glen did nothing more than encourage people to “believe in themselves; & to change for the better. Even in today’s society, “some will & most won’t”. That’s the reality of life.
Thank you Mr. Turner for what I learned from you about “life”.
Mike Curtis .
Truer Words were. Never spoken. I was in Koscot in Virginia, I made NO MONEY, and that was MY FAULT. I didn’t put as much effort into it as I should have. But I did learn to believe in myself, and it was only my efforts that would change my future.
It is my belief that the people who joined the class action law suit, was made up of others who didn’t put in the effort, and used the laws to get some of their money back.
The funny part is, these people made even less, for the time involved, than they could have, if they put that same time into Koscot.
Thanks Glenn, the money spent was a bargain, to have someone teach you to GROW UP! !!
Bob Sheffield
Amway was also Attacked By Wanna-Be-Big-Shots , Yet Amway (and others like Microsoft) simply had more MONEY to Survive and Yet Still Thrive Today. Glenn Was A Scape Goat for the (Ill- legal)system.
Glenn was Railroaded and I trust will (hopefully soon in his lifetime) be more than Compensated for his Losses, plus DAMAGES!..
I met Glenn Turner in 1971. He was pitching Koscot Cosmetics to a large group. He told funny stories and was a jovial sort of guy. I could see that he would have some legal troubles even back then with the way the distributorships were being done. I am glad I met this amazing man. Yes, he was a lot of things, but boring wasn’t one of them.
Well Elaine, As a matter of fact he lives quite the modest life…at 79 he still walk a few miles every morning…lives with his wife and Parrot in a Modest House in Central Florida, with memorobelia covering the walls like a colouge. I knew immediately after speaking with this Gentleman, that he is clearly a saint, not a con man. He is a loving, mentor, with a vibrant personality, and some wild bright blue eyes. He has his grandkids come over and play in the Pool, and enjoys the simple things. Out of the few times i went over there, a few things that stand out the most, likely cause he repeated them like 5 times….I guess its a symptom of old age..but when discussing his downfall, or tear down, we will call it, when discussing his 5 yrs in prison, for giving a free speech in Illinois, with all of this horrible fate sent his way, he looked at me with a deep content look, with a smirk, and says, “I’m Better, not Bitter, and I Love the USA. God Bless”
So please, if you have not already, read the 6 books he had written about him, and the 1 he wrote about himself, learn the story of our American History.
It was just over a year and a half ago when I saw him last, so he was 78..and jogging 2 miles a day… I hope he is still going strong. And if he saw this post I am sure he would love to see all the great comments, and I bet he would even get a laugh at the bad ones,,,in one ear and out the other he would say, keep in the good, and out with the bad.
What a focused mind, kind heart, and naturally hilarious man. I am lucky to have met him, with a few months after meeting him, my thoughts and goals made a drastic turnaround, I can without a doubt can say he changed my life for the better, and we never spoke once about any business ventures…Just learning his story, and feeling his amazing positive energy told me all I needed to know.
(ps, Elaine, he mentioned that although most of his cash is gone, and put away in trusts…that there are hundreds of millionaires out there from his groups, and at least a dozen of these are woman millionaires….who clearly were moved by him…and made their success not in selling his mink oil makeup, but by day in and day out…applying his theory…his attitude toward life and working with people..kick ass, and give it 200%, and give that 200% with a smile. That is what G.W.T is all about.
God Bless.
Thanks Dude!!
@ Doug, If Glenn was not made out to be a Con Man, Mary kay…Amway…and all the others right now may be going by the name of Pyramid Miracle, not Pyramid Scheme. And There may be just a few more self made millionaires right now…and we may be in just a bit less debt as a Country. But you know, call it a scheme..keep us down…keep making us think we are being wamboozled left and right, do not let us think for ourselves, we will be blind, we will be blind, o, we will be blind.
Funny how this thread shows up every now and then. Like the occasional sale of my book American Karma – Twilight of the Marijuana Gods in which I detail my meeting with Mr. Turner and my roller coaster experience with his “schemes.” In retrospect I would say he was a great man, a visionary, an inspiration, probably a genius, but with very large feet of clay. Some people got booted into success with those clay feet while others got stomped into dust by them. He also attracted a lot of sharks who tore large chunks out of his reputation. But I’m glad he is alive and doing well. I should probably send him a copy of my book (he wouldn’t remember me) but I’m afraid I might get sued.
I too knew Mr. Turner; I lived with Randy Hubbard and friends of Debbie Wilson. I was in Detroit then Orlando, Exciting time, fond memories.
Glenn W. Turner Helped Change My Life Yet To This Day… 47 years later. Never met the Man, but got his Books and Recordings. Thank You GLENN.
Both my parents was major distributors in this organization. My brother and I had to write summaries on varies dare to be great tapes daily. The conventions we where in was scary. Brain washed greedy people following a cult. If Glenn W Turner passion had been religion instead of money he would rank right up there with Jim Jones. Con man or Saint? Saints do not burn in hell. We left the cult and had to flee the state to avoid not only legal problems but retaliations by hundreds of people we conned out of their life savings. My parents knew as well as everyone else in the top level that what we was involved in was illegal. The people in the upper levels of this organization played a game of dine and dash Last ones in got stuck with the bill.
As You Said: “The people in the upper levels of this (Their) organization played a game of dine and dash Last ones in got stuck with the bill.” I doubt that – If Glenn Knew that – they would be Greeters at Wal-Mart. Today. Greedy people do not make Professional “Dare To Be GREAT” -not Greedy – Distributors.
I had the great opportunity to meet Mr. Turner in 1978 and experienced a transformation in my life-financially, physically and most importantly spiritually. He is a Great Inspiration to me and hundreds of thousands of others who came in contact with him. God bless you Mr. Turner
I had the great opportunity to meet Mr. Turner in 1978 and experienced a transformation in my life-financially, physically and most importantly spiritually. He is a Great Inspiration to me and hundreds of thousands of others who came in contact with him. God bless you Mr. Turner!
My new wife and I attended a Kansas City recruiting meeting in 1970. We were not the sort of people who do well with strong arm recruiting tactics. When attempting to leave shortly after the opening video of “dare to be great” we were literally blocked by one of the leaders at the end of our isle who suggested we stay. Since I was 6’4″ and 260 I had no problem getting by him. I was thinking for a few minutes he wasn’t going to take my no thank you. Never before or since have I run into such tactics. I’ve never forgotten that video of Mr. Turner pointing out his deformity and making it his motivation for success.