[(Abominable Firebug)] [By (author) Richard B Johnson] published on

by Richard B. Johnson

Abominable Firebug is the autobiographical tale of a boy who became a resident of two foster home institutions, a detention center, and, on two occasions, a reform school. Author Richard Johnson honestly tells the story of his often-turbulent boyhood as he shares the harsh realities of the American juvenile detention system during the late 1950s and early 1960s. While sharing far-from-average life experiences, Johnson vividly illustrates his love for his family despite their rejection, his constant resiliency, his need for love and acceptance, and the important role that mentors played in his life.Johnson eventually graduated from college and moved on to a successful career. His story will uplift, encourage, and educate anyone who works with troubled children or has experienced a difficult childhood.“Dick is an inspiration. Through capturing his experiences on paper for all to read, he breathes new hope into the desperate lives of disaffected youth … as professional caregivers, we owe it to all these children to share the knowledge we gain from Dick's book. Read this book and share it with others. Open peoples' eyes to the harsh realities of those children locked and tossed away, and share their worth and potential.” —Dr. Mary A. Clisbee, Executive Director, Merrimack Special Education Collaborative, Massachusetts

Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story of severe trials that took place in an earlier time and era, specifically the sixties. The author was classified as a “troubled” boy, rejected by his parents and placed in the juvenile system. At that time, it was not a pleasant experience; some of the facilities were run by sadistic pedophiles that terrorized the boys into being their sexual objects. Some of the abusers were men of the cloth, but given the recent revelations of the actions of many Catholic priests, that news is not surprising. What does surprise me is that the scandal has apparently not yet involved priests and ministers of other denominations. For the “men of god” who sexually abused the author were not Catholic.
Richard Johnson is an incredibly bright person, showing genius in both engineering and music. It was those qualities that were a major factor that allowed him to succeed in life despite the enormous odds. The other factor was the few people that he encountered that gave him a chance and showed him kindness. He speaks with great fondness of those people and rightly so. They went so far out of their way and against his reputation to let him do things. Those people are mentioned and should be commended.
The book is also a look back to a time in America that was quite different from the modern age. Johnson describes how the police would beat him whenever they thought they could get away with it. That attitude among the police was not isolated to the eastern Massachusetts area. My friends and relatives described being beaten at the hands of the local police for minor offences, but only when the police felt that there was no risk. Generally this meant that the one being beaten didn’t have a respectable parent or other protector who would mount a fierce objection.
Young men were also thrown into a system that was really more a form of incarceration rather than assistance. They had little to no rights, judges could do what they wanted and any attempt at rehabilitation was a consequence of the initiative of individual people.
Fortunately, Johnson survived all of this, becoming successful and having the courage to write about it. He is to be commended for that, many people would have been content to simply be successful.

This book was made available for free for review purposes and this review also appears on Amazon.