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Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published September 29, 2006

Detroit — "Every guest in this house will be treated as another Christ," George Englund remembers that's how how Daniel Kidd, Guest House president and CEO, explained the spirit of Guest House.

Englund, a well-known movie producer/director and the son of Guest House founder Austin Ripley, whom he had met only once, says he was impressed with this sentiment and how it represents how Guest House, an organization based in Orion Township that provides addiction treatment to men and women religious, handles the recovery process. "It begins with dignity," Englund said. "That's the first thing – they feel received in that way."

George Englund, movie producer/director, laughs with Guest House employee Lenore Koehn during a visit.

People might recognize Englund because he's a movie producer/director – "The Ugly American" and "The Shoes of the Fisherman" are among his credits – or from his biography of Marlon Brando, his long-time friend, which was published a few years ago. His father was Austin "Rip" Ripley, who founded Guest House 50 years ago.

And Englund, 80, will soon be coming to help celebrate 50 years of helping more than 7,000 nuns, priests, brothers and deacons defeat their drug, alcohol, gambling, eating or other addictions by being the special guest at Guest House's annual Bishops' Dinner. It's a way for him to keep his father's mission going, while helping out what he feels is a good cause.

Englund, speaking from his home in Palm Springs, Calif., said he and his father had only met once in Englund's life – when he visited Guest House in the 1960s. As time went on, he became more and more interested in who his father was.

In his book about Marlon Brando, Englund discussed how neither man had really known their fathers. He also discussed how he'd met Ripley one time at Guest House.

A priest came across the connection in the book and passed the information along to the staff at Guest House – who previously had been unaware that Ripley had children or even a first wife.

"This is a person we didn't even know about three years ago," Kidd said of Englund.

As Englund spends time with the staff at Guest House, he said he not only gets to learn about the operation, but also more about his father. "I've been very interested in everything about Guest House," he said.

George Englund, movie producer/director, talks with Guest House President and CEO Dan Kidd at his visit to the Orion Township location last year.

He pointed out that when his father, a recovering alcoholic, founded Guest House in the 1950s, the attitude toward addiction was a bit different – not a lot of bishops understood the disease or were willing to admit that it was a problem, even among clergy. Ripley had an original approach, Englund said, realizing that priests needed special care that respected their vocation.

Kidd said the past few years have been a "very interesting journey," watching Englund get to know his father as well as what Guest House is about. He pointed out that Austin Ripley helped thousands of people called "father," but he wasn't really a father to his own son.

Also interesting is that Austin Ripley's son produced a movie about such a Catholic topic as a pope's election – the topic of "The Shoes of the Fisherman." In another odd twist, the priest who told Kidd about the Austin Ripley connection took a flight to the treatment center – and the movie on the plane was "Shoes of the Fisherman."

"It just shows God's hand at work," Kidd said.

Kidd said Englund not only looks like his father, but sounds just like him, according to a recording of Austin Ripley Guest House has. He said the first time they spoke on the phone together, for an hour-and-45-minute conversation, was "amazing."

"I felt like I was listening to Austin Ripley," he said.

Having a heavy hitter on the side of Guest House can only help them reap benefits down the road, explained Kidd, and, more importantly, continue to spread awareness about how the organization helps men and women religious.

"We're grateful to him for his interest in helping us along the way," he said. "It's very exciting for us to have him here as a part of our 50th anniversary celebration."

He's excited to have Englund there to help celebrate "what has been a magnificent asset to the Church," he said.

Other well-known people who have helped out Guest House include Ed Sullivan and Bob Hope. Englund's ex-wife, actress, Cloris Leachman, has also helped out with a fundraising fashion show.

Kidd pointed out that celebrities' involvement in treatment programs, or even when they publicly receive treatment, helps other people realize that it's OK to get help – and that many types of people fall ill to addictions. "The important thing is, how do we use the grace of God to overcome it?" he said.

Bishops' Dinner   To celebrate its 50th anniversary year of service, Guest House will be hosting its 48th annual Bishops' Dinner: • Thursday, Oct. 5, reception at 6 p.m., seated dinner following • San Marino Club, 1685 E. Big Beaver Road, Troy • $50 per person – $1 for each year of service. Table of 10 for $500 includes recognition in the program • Honorary host will be Bishop Earl Boyea, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit • Special guest speaker is movie producer/director George Englund, son of Guest House founder Austin Ripley • For more information call (248) 391-4445.

Englund says he's "in and out" of the Catholic faith, having been baptized as a baby, but not necessarily raised Catholic. However, he had to learn a lot about the Church to portray the process of electing a pope properly in "The Shoes of the Fisherman."

He and the Vatican agreed that he could shoot part of the movie inside the Vatican, but everything had to be absolutely correct in terms of rules and processes. At one point he had nine different counselors, he remembers, telling him how things worked in the Church – one who asked him why he wasn't a Catholic, as he knew so much about the faith.

Either way, Englund says he likes Guest House more and more as he works with it and gets to know the people involved. He wants to be as helpful as he can to help it move forward for another 50 years.

And he thinks the idea of treating people like they were Christ – or, rather, seeing that "every guest in this house will be treated as another Christ," as Kidd explained to him – is a concept the whole world could use today. He used the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinians as an example.

"If one of them had that idea – how it would change everything," he said.