My Imagination and Art Have Sustained Me: a memoir by Mary O'Brien

by M.J. O'Brien

Jenny, Muriel and I are being held in a room on the second floor. Downstairs a boy is being screamed at by his peers in a General Meeting. I hear them shouting "You pathetic Mama´s Boy! you´re disgusting! We hate you!" Two hours later Jenny, Muriel and I are led downstairs All the lights in the house are off, as is the light in the dinning room. We´re placed at the front of the room. The invisible audience begins whispering at us. Their voices rising each time they speak. They´re all saying the same thing. Before they are shouting I hear their words-"KILL THEM!" When they´re screaming this the lights are suddenly turned on and with that the angry mob charges at us! It is awful. The loud volume of so many voices is unbearable. But the intensity of their anger and the salyva flying from their mouths is even worse! Afterward we are each ridiculed in turn. Muriel is accused of being a witch because she is quiet, strange and it is believed that she killed some baby birds. Jenny and I are called mental cases and spoiled babies. When we´re informed that we will be shot down and have to dig ditches Jenny falls apart. She covers her face and sobs bitterly. The director orders two students to hog tie her on the floor. Although I know I´ll be punished severely, I start laughing and can´t stop! I see Jenny rocking on her stomach, making me think of a rocking chair. I´m charged at by my peers and pushed against the wall. The director makes me announce that I´m a dumb little girl, who knows nothing. Being thirteen I find this humiliating, but I comply. Yes this actually happened. I was at The Elan School in Maine by this time and incidents like the above occured regularly. Kids were there for many reasons. I was a run away who had emotional problems. I was also legally blind.

324 pages, Paperback

First published December 21, 2011

Reviews

[Michelle Nieuw · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you’re here because you watched the documentary “The Last Stop” and you wanted more information about the Elan school, don’t read this. Despite the summary of this book (and that which is stated in the documentary) Elan is only referenced in two chapters of this book with very few insights into the school itself. The author seems like a nice lady & definitely had her share of unique struggles, but this book wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. I wished someone had told me before I bought it.