Gonneke Spits (pronounced "Hanukkah") was a key executive in Erhard Seminars Training, also known as "est"Pay Money, Be Happy. New York Magazine, July 9, 2001, http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/culture/features/4932/index3.html. Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, she first became associated with Werner ErhardPressman, Steven, Outrageous Betrayal: The dark journey of Werner Erhard from est to exile. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993. ISBN 0312092962 , pg. 37. while he was a sales associate with Parents Magazine.
Gonneke Spits accompanied Werner Erhard to a May 11, 2004 event at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, entitled "From Thought to Action: Growing Leaders in a Changing World". Publicity at the event noted she has "worked with Erhard for the past 40 years.""From Thought to Action: Growing Leaders in a Changing World". John F. Kennedy School of Government, May 11, 2004, http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/leadership/news/index.php?itemid=984
Currently, Spits lives with Erhard in Georgetown, Cayman Islands:
Though his whereabouts have been shrouded in mystery since 1991, it turns out that Erhard has been living at least part of the time in Georgetown, the capital of the Cayman Islands, with Gonneke Spits, his assistant during his encyclopedia-selling days and later a key executive in est. Changing his surname yet again Erhard has joined an eating club called Chaîne des Rotisseurs, which holds formal themed dinners several times a year. One eleven-course feast (roasted squab, peaches in chartreuse jelly) re-created the last dinner on the Titanic.Pay Money, Be Happy. New York Magazine, July 9, 2001, http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/culture/features/4932/index3.html
On the night of June 3, 1967, William LaValley, the night patrol officer, drove up to Erhard's car and asked him to turn off the car's headlights since the beams interfered with his patrol duties. Erhard exploded in anger at the request, jumping out of the car and threatening to toss the startled security guard over a railing and down a steep embankment to the water below. Erhard's companion, an attractive employee named Gonneke Spits, remained quiet in the car.Pressman, Steven, Outrageous Betrayal: The dark journey of Werner Erhard from est to exile. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993. ISBN 0312092962 , pg. 10.
Gonneke Spits has at one point in time been the victime of Werner Erhard's "sensitivity techniques":
Sitting around a U-shaped table, Erhard decided to put Gonneke Spits to the test. He began shouting at her, deliberately trying to provoke her into betraying even the slightest doubts that she might have toward him. While he continued to shout at her, Erhard slapped her hard across the face. She staggered backward but still insisted that her loyalties belong to Erhard...The dark moment of violence ended almost as abruptly as it had begun, and by the end of the marathon session, on Sunday morning, everyone in the room seemed to be in giddy and jovial spirits. Only the blackened eye and bruises clearly visible on Gonneke Spits's face betrayed some of the demons that lurked inside Werner Erhard.Pressman, Steven, Outrageous Betrayal: The dark journey of Werner Erhard from est to exile. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993. ISBN 0312092962 , pg. 42.
Erhard gave Gonneke Spits the responsibility of managing his wife, Ellen Virginia Erhard, during some of their marital difficulties:
The night Ellen Erhard was choked in front of her children marked the beginning of a year-long "rehabilitation" program that Erhard decreed for his wife. He assigned the job of "managing" Ellen to Gonneke Spits, giving her authority to control Ellen's comings and goings while insisting as well that Spits supervise her every action, including forays to San Rafael to see the children...Gonneke Spits, at Erhard's direction, gathered up Ellen's credit cards and distributed them to other members of the staff while offering no explanation for such a curious gift.Pressman, Steven, Outrageous Betrayal: The dark journey of Werner Erhard from est to exile. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993. ISBN 0312092962 , pg. 135.
