Claude Nowell

Claude Rex Nowell (November 2, 1944 – January 29, 2008), also known as Corky King, Corky Ra, and Summum Bonum Amon Ra, was the American founder of Summum, a 501(c)(3), philosophical and religious organization that practices a modern form of mummification.

Nowell was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States. When he was four years old, his parents divorced and he and his mother moved to Southern California. That same year (1948), his mother married Robert Williamson King and she had Claude's name legally changed to Claude Rex King. When he was young, Claude was given the nickname "Corky" which was how he was known to friends and family.

Up until 1959, Corky King lived in Monrovia, California. Then his family moved to Tustin, California, where he graduated from Tustin High School in 1962. He went on to attend Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa and graduated in Construction Technology. Corky King moved back to Salt Lake City in 1964 and about that same time, he legally changed his name back to Claude Rex Nowell. He attended Brigham Young University and graduated from the University of Utah.

In 1975, Nowell founded Summum following an experience he describes as an encounter with highly intelligent beings. The purpose of Summum is to share with others the information he received from his encounter and to provide an environment for those on a path of spiritual development. In 1980, Nowell legally changed his name to Summum Bonum Amon Ra as a representation of his spiritual path.

In 1978, Nowell began construction of a pyramid that would be used as a winery to produce Summum Soma Nectar. Despite Utah's strict liquor laws and the rigid controls it places on alcoholic beverages, a Utah law allowed him to establish the winery provided the wine was used for religious purposes. The winery was established in 1980 and is one of very few in the state of Utah. The Soma Nectar is also referred to as Nectar Publications and are used in a practice of meditation for the purpose of developing mystical potentials.

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