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Goneboy: A Walkabout
The father of a murdered eighteen-year-old boy describes the ordeal of his son's death and his research into the culture of violence and incompetence that surrounded the murder
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First published January 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
April 16, 2010
I'm an alumnus of Simon's Rock, and the unequivocal praise for this book on Goodreads is really starting to get to me. In particular, contrary to one review, Gibson is not in any way being fair and balanced in his assessment of the situation. To the contrary, and as might be expected of a grieving parent, this book is neither objective nor rational. Many of the conclusions Gibson comes to (or should I say jumps to) are correct to some degree, but more are just plain wrong, and many of these have since been disavowed by Gibson himself in hindsight. This book was a stage in Gibson's grieving process, one which he has since moved on from for the most part; he's since endowed a scholarship at the school in his son's name, so he can't still believe a lot of what he's written here, and it's unfortunate that this is the part of the grieving process that he decided to publish for national distribution.
With that said, it is absolutely true that Simon's Rock officials, particularly Bernie Rodgers and Ba Win, did mishandle the incident. However, the way Gibson uses this book to blast Bernie, Ba Win, the RDs on duty that night, and various campus policies is both self-serving and ignorant. I knew Bernie and Ba Win both, and they're both good people who genuinely care about the institution and about their students. The problem, which is overlooked by Gibson in his grief, is that running an institution, even one as small as Simon's Rock, isn't just snapping your fingers and something gets done. Procedures need to be followed, and the needs of all stakeholders need to be taken into consideration for EVERY decision, no matter how small. You can't just cowboy your way through the process the way the media portrays, and Gibson seems to believe. More importantly, it was 1992. School shootings didn't happen back then, so nobody involved in this situation had any precedent at all. And while I will blame everyone in a position of authority at Simon's Rock at the time for maybe being a little too complacent, a little too dependent on peoples' better natures, that is as far as I will go. What really bothers me about the way that Gibson characterizes school officials is that he seems to have the expectation that anyone who represents the school legally is going to come fawning over him and treat him like the most important person in the room, as though Wayne Lo's rampage was something that happened to him alone. What does he expect them to do, say "yeah, we totally screwed up, here, feel free to sue us now"?
Further, his characterizations of these peoples' emotional states are just unfair, particularly Bernie Rodgers, whom he derides as being "cold and distant". That's just the way Bernie copes with tragedy in public. I attended the funeral of his wife, whom he loved dearly, and he barely cried. He's just a very stoic individual, and a bit socially awkward outside of a podium. So for Gibson to deride him as being "cold and distant" is both unfair and selfish. Similarly, there's this air throughout that Gibson is the only person who has suffered grief because of this incident and needs to be universally recognized. This is both unrealistic and selfish in the extreme. Galen Gibson died that night, yes. But Nancunaz Saez died that night, too, which many people seem to forget thanks to the fact that he was a faculty member and didn't have a demagogue father writing a book about his death. Theresa Beavers, the security guard who was shot by Lo in the spine and paralyzed, sued SRC and won. Many other students were injured, and even more suffered PTSD. It's still a topic that gets brought up on that campus TODAY, 20 years after the fact. There were a LOT of people suffering because of Wayne Lo, not just Greg Gibson. Galen Gibson's death was a tragedy, but Greg Gibson writing a book about it in which he, Greg Gibson, is the most important character is completely self-serving and ridiculous.
Finally, let's give SRC credit for one more very important thing: this book is freely available in their library, which is where I first read it. I believe that copy is autographed by Gibson himself, and may have been donated by him. But if SRC were really sincere about suppressing the truth, as Gibson seemed to believe when he wrote it, they wouldn't have put it on the shelf.
I'm not trying to diminish the pain of Gibson's loss. But this book is all that - pain, most of it irrational. It's a good study of the irrationality of grief, but I wouldn't take anything Gibson says in this book at face value, because it's almost totally wrong, and the author himself no longer believes much of it.
With that said, it is absolutely true that Simon's Rock officials, particularly Bernie Rodgers and Ba Win, did mishandle the incident. However, the way Gibson uses this book to blast Bernie, Ba Win, the RDs on duty that night, and various campus policies is both self-serving and ignorant. I knew Bernie and Ba Win both, and they're both good people who genuinely care about the institution and about their students. The problem, which is overlooked by Gibson in his grief, is that running an institution, even one as small as Simon's Rock, isn't just snapping your fingers and something gets done. Procedures need to be followed, and the needs of all stakeholders need to be taken into consideration for EVERY decision, no matter how small. You can't just cowboy your way through the process the way the media portrays, and Gibson seems to believe. More importantly, it was 1992. School shootings didn't happen back then, so nobody involved in this situation had any precedent at all. And while I will blame everyone in a position of authority at Simon's Rock at the time for maybe being a little too complacent, a little too dependent on peoples' better natures, that is as far as I will go. What really bothers me about the way that Gibson characterizes school officials is that he seems to have the expectation that anyone who represents the school legally is going to come fawning over him and treat him like the most important person in the room, as though Wayne Lo's rampage was something that happened to him alone. What does he expect them to do, say "yeah, we totally screwed up, here, feel free to sue us now"?
Further, his characterizations of these peoples' emotional states are just unfair, particularly Bernie Rodgers, whom he derides as being "cold and distant". That's just the way Bernie copes with tragedy in public. I attended the funeral of his wife, whom he loved dearly, and he barely cried. He's just a very stoic individual, and a bit socially awkward outside of a podium. So for Gibson to deride him as being "cold and distant" is both unfair and selfish. Similarly, there's this air throughout that Gibson is the only person who has suffered grief because of this incident and needs to be universally recognized. This is both unrealistic and selfish in the extreme. Galen Gibson died that night, yes. But Nancunaz Saez died that night, too, which many people seem to forget thanks to the fact that he was a faculty member and didn't have a demagogue father writing a book about his death. Theresa Beavers, the security guard who was shot by Lo in the spine and paralyzed, sued SRC and won. Many other students were injured, and even more suffered PTSD. It's still a topic that gets brought up on that campus TODAY, 20 years after the fact. There were a LOT of people suffering because of Wayne Lo, not just Greg Gibson. Galen Gibson's death was a tragedy, but Greg Gibson writing a book about it in which he, Greg Gibson, is the most important character is completely self-serving and ridiculous.
Finally, let's give SRC credit for one more very important thing: this book is freely available in their library, which is where I first read it. I believe that copy is autographed by Gibson himself, and may have been donated by him. But if SRC were really sincere about suppressing the truth, as Gibson seemed to believe when he wrote it, they wouldn't have put it on the shelf.
I'm not trying to diminish the pain of Gibson's loss. But this book is all that - pain, most of it irrational. It's a good study of the irrationality of grief, but I wouldn't take anything Gibson says in this book at face value, because it's almost totally wrong, and the author himself no longer believes much of it.
December 24, 2012
I have to give it five stars because I read all 270 pages in a 24 hour period(amidst doing a ton of other stuff, I might add). I simply could not put it down. Rarely has a voice spoken so clearly to me through the written page.
I borrowed the book from the library after reading an Op-Ed piece in the NYTimes by Gregory Gibson just hours after the Sandy Hook Massacre. After reading the short opinion piece by Gibson, I wanted to read his book written in the 1990s (published in 2000)about his father-desperation when his firstborn son died in a random killing-spree by a fellow college student.
This is a first person account of redemption told in an immediate way, and it has given me a different way of thinking about the issues surrounding the horrendous act of murdering many people with a semi-automatic weapon.
No one who reads this book will be the same when they are done reading, and the change is welcome. Black and white will become many shades of gray--the mark of a thoughtful exploration of a hideous action.
I borrowed the book from the library after reading an Op-Ed piece in the NYTimes by Gregory Gibson just hours after the Sandy Hook Massacre. After reading the short opinion piece by Gibson, I wanted to read his book written in the 1990s (published in 2000)about his father-desperation when his firstborn son died in a random killing-spree by a fellow college student.
This is a first person account of redemption told in an immediate way, and it has given me a different way of thinking about the issues surrounding the horrendous act of murdering many people with a semi-automatic weapon.
No one who reads this book will be the same when they are done reading, and the change is welcome. Black and white will become many shades of gray--the mark of a thoughtful exploration of a hideous action.
October 28, 2019
This is a memoir about how the father of a murdered college student set about making sense of the events that took his son's life. The writing is very unemotional but it's still easy to sense the pain that fuels the author's "walkabout," as he calls his story. He has a great deal of compassion, not only for the victims but for the killer and the killer's family as well. I get just the merest taste of his son's character in this book, but it's more than enough to tell me why he couldn't stand to talk about his feelings of loss too much. This one is more than worth your time.
April 3, 2017
Probably the best narrative I have read. What an astounding way to deal with grief - Gregory Gibson becomes his own P.I. to discover the truths behind his son's tragic death. His book, I believe is so essential for this day and age. He is providing insight as to how and why this tragedy, the shooting at his son's school, occurred. There's too many things to say about this book.. Read it. It's a good one.
August 10, 2007
Heartbreaking and thought-provoking -- a father's story about losing his son in a senseless college shooting and the aftermath. His journey takes him from the school's administrator's lack of accountablilty or even apology to the gun store where the shooter bought the gun, and even to the parents of the boy who shot his son.
Unflinching and completely un-martyr-like in tone, the author manages to touch on all the complicated emotions he and his family goes through -- it's a book about healing and of course, about Love.
Unflinching and completely un-martyr-like in tone, the author manages to touch on all the complicated emotions he and his family goes through -- it's a book about healing and of course, about Love.
January 9, 2013
Outstanding book. The grieving father parts sometimes reminded me of John Gunther's "Death Be Not Proud". But the most striking and memorable part was the visit to the gun collector.
February 3, 2012
Let me begin by saying that the whole notion of rating a father's heart-rending account of his son's random and senseless murder is more than a little strange, as though anyone in such a position should be awarded or deducted style points for his nuanced examination of the event, its aftermath and what led up to it. Is one way of chronicling such a nightmare really better than or preferable to another? I think not.
Having said that, I was thoroughly captivated by Gregory Gibson's poignant, revealing and often disgusting inspection of the entire chain of events that led to and followed the day his son was murdered on his college campus, one of several innocent victims of a madman's rampage that left everybody in its wake forever changed. I bought this book after reading Gibson's much more light-hearted but equally insightful "Hubert's Freaks," a true story about freak shows, Diane Arbus photographs and the world of antiquarian booksellers (of which Gibson is one), another book that offered great insight into a world I'd have otherwise never known but feel richer for having been exposed to.
I don't have any children, so I'll never be able to compare a personal reaction to a child's death with Gibson's. More than the emotional journey than one might expect with such subject matter, Gibson examines all facets of the tragedy, from the laws (both at the state and university levels) that permitted an assassin to own a semi-automatic assault weapon to his and his family's attempts to bring reason to an absolutely unreasonable act of violence. Especially revealing are his discoveries of what and how much college officials knew before the incident ever took place, and their inadequate explanations for and responses to their own inaction, much of which might well have been influenced by the insurance companies involved and their reluctance not only to honor their responsibilities, but to place a "adequate" monetary value on human life, if, in fact, one could value a life in dollars and cents.
Gibson's style combines revealing insight with great fluidity; rather than lecture--which could have been perfectly understandable--this is essentially a look into a diary written over the course of several (seemingly endless) years. This was not an attempt to place blame as much as it was an effort to discover, comprehend and reconcile his reactions, and he leaves no stone unturned in his search for answers, candidly acknowledging his own shortcomings and weaknesses as his quest eventually leads him not only to a relationship with the killer's parents, but with the killer himself. As much as he holds a mirror up to society and the circumstances surrounding this story, he holds it up to himself.
Although he gave no indication that "Gone Boy" was his attempt to find some sort of "closure" to his own personal horror (a notion he discusses at some length), I can only hope that it brought him and his family and friends some modicum of peace, some measure of comfort or solace. I wish all of them well, and thank him for sharing this riveting and revealing story.
Having said that, I was thoroughly captivated by Gregory Gibson's poignant, revealing and often disgusting inspection of the entire chain of events that led to and followed the day his son was murdered on his college campus, one of several innocent victims of a madman's rampage that left everybody in its wake forever changed. I bought this book after reading Gibson's much more light-hearted but equally insightful "Hubert's Freaks," a true story about freak shows, Diane Arbus photographs and the world of antiquarian booksellers (of which Gibson is one), another book that offered great insight into a world I'd have otherwise never known but feel richer for having been exposed to.
I don't have any children, so I'll never be able to compare a personal reaction to a child's death with Gibson's. More than the emotional journey than one might expect with such subject matter, Gibson examines all facets of the tragedy, from the laws (both at the state and university levels) that permitted an assassin to own a semi-automatic assault weapon to his and his family's attempts to bring reason to an absolutely unreasonable act of violence. Especially revealing are his discoveries of what and how much college officials knew before the incident ever took place, and their inadequate explanations for and responses to their own inaction, much of which might well have been influenced by the insurance companies involved and their reluctance not only to honor their responsibilities, but to place a "adequate" monetary value on human life, if, in fact, one could value a life in dollars and cents.
Gibson's style combines revealing insight with great fluidity; rather than lecture--which could have been perfectly understandable--this is essentially a look into a diary written over the course of several (seemingly endless) years. This was not an attempt to place blame as much as it was an effort to discover, comprehend and reconcile his reactions, and he leaves no stone unturned in his search for answers, candidly acknowledging his own shortcomings and weaknesses as his quest eventually leads him not only to a relationship with the killer's parents, but with the killer himself. As much as he holds a mirror up to society and the circumstances surrounding this story, he holds it up to himself.
Although he gave no indication that "Gone Boy" was his attempt to find some sort of "closure" to his own personal horror (a notion he discusses at some length), I can only hope that it brought him and his family and friends some modicum of peace, some measure of comfort or solace. I wish all of them well, and thank him for sharing this riveting and revealing story.
August 13, 2012
fascinating, honest...so raw, the author brings us with him as he deals with the anger and sadness after the murder of his son by a rampage killer.
December 2, 2012
Fascinating journey this book will take you on. How do you move on after your child is taken from you? Compelling read.
May 27, 2013
Really a terrific book. Poignant without being smarmy, and full of wry observations. Not a single false note throughout.
January 3, 2022
This is a brave memoir of grief written by a father of an eighteen year old son killed in a shooting at Simon’s Rock College on December 14, 1992. Fellow student Wayne Lo went on a shooting rampage from 10:15 pm - 10:33 pm where Lo injured the school guard Theresa Beavers, murdered Spanish professor Nacunan Saez, injured three students and killed Gibson’s son Galen on the doorway of the college library.
Gregory Gibson grew frustrated with an ongoing civil suit. After the murder trial and conviction of Wayne Lo, Gibson needed to learn more. He searched for and documented what happened and who was involved starting with the man who sold the gun to a college student. Along the way, he meets lawyers,gun collectors, journalists, police, psychiatrists, politicians, college officials, and Lo’s parents. It is a journey of discovery as a way for a father to understand this tragic event.
Well-written, this book reads like a detective story. As a graduate of Simon’s Rock College, this was an emotional read for me. I was a student at Simon’s Rock six years prior to this event, but remember it well. I felt the shock and grief when the oasis that was Simon’s Rock exploded in headlines. I still have a file with all the newspaper articles. I remember taking a bus from Boston to the December 1992 memorial. The dining room at Simon’s Rock was filled with a grieving community of current and former students and their professors. Nacunan Saez was my dear Spanish teacher. He was a charming young professor from Argentina. After almost 30 years, the Simon’s Rock community still mourn this event.
Gregory Gibson grew frustrated with an ongoing civil suit. After the murder trial and conviction of Wayne Lo, Gibson needed to learn more. He searched for and documented what happened and who was involved starting with the man who sold the gun to a college student. Along the way, he meets lawyers,gun collectors, journalists, police, psychiatrists, politicians, college officials, and Lo’s parents. It is a journey of discovery as a way for a father to understand this tragic event.
Well-written, this book reads like a detective story. As a graduate of Simon’s Rock College, this was an emotional read for me. I was a student at Simon’s Rock six years prior to this event, but remember it well. I felt the shock and grief when the oasis that was Simon’s Rock exploded in headlines. I still have a file with all the newspaper articles. I remember taking a bus from Boston to the December 1992 memorial. The dining room at Simon’s Rock was filled with a grieving community of current and former students and their professors. Nacunan Saez was my dear Spanish teacher. He was a charming young professor from Argentina. After almost 30 years, the Simon’s Rock community still mourn this event.
November 3, 2024
“It was not Galen, always so much with us, but this other, stolen, rocking creature who truly was the Gone Boy.”
I finished this book in one day and found some segments of my experience with loss being represented – it wasn’t the legal battle but moreso the loss of a life that could’ve been. i found my own experiences with my family, with the lives lost in my family precisely, sort of channelled in this book. i think i’m still on my own walkabout. i don’t know what else to say other than hope mister gregory gibson is doing well in these times when senseless violence just seems more and more prevalent and presented in the first pages and most read articles. i come from a country where guns aren’t as easily accessible, with a lot of vetting done when someone wants to purchase a firearm, but because of the fact that the global village exists i and others in my country became aware of the never ending threat of unvetted firearms in the wrong hands.
I finished this book in one day and found some segments of my experience with loss being represented – it wasn’t the legal battle but moreso the loss of a life that could’ve been. i found my own experiences with my family, with the lives lost in my family precisely, sort of channelled in this book. i think i’m still on my own walkabout. i don’t know what else to say other than hope mister gregory gibson is doing well in these times when senseless violence just seems more and more prevalent and presented in the first pages and most read articles. i come from a country where guns aren’t as easily accessible, with a lot of vetting done when someone wants to purchase a firearm, but because of the fact that the global village exists i and others in my country became aware of the never ending threat of unvetted firearms in the wrong hands.
October 30, 2022
My husband gave me the book which was autographed by Mr. Gibson.
He is a great storyteller. Huge vocabulary, that I actually had to look up words to know what he was talking about. This book is the journey of a father trying to heal after the loss of his son to an ultra-violent murder. At least one chapter toward the last half of the book was a lot of gun jargon, that I briefly lost interest, but I understand he needed to know everything about everything when it came to the murder of his son, including the style of gun and how it worked, who manufactured it, etc.
To Mr. Gibson, I commend you on your journey, on your work, and your dedication. The book took me long to read because I ended up getting lost in Google while reading the book, to learn more about Wayne Lo, Galen, the area etc. My sincerest condolences.
He is a great storyteller. Huge vocabulary, that I actually had to look up words to know what he was talking about. This book is the journey of a father trying to heal after the loss of his son to an ultra-violent murder. At least one chapter toward the last half of the book was a lot of gun jargon, that I briefly lost interest, but I understand he needed to know everything about everything when it came to the murder of his son, including the style of gun and how it worked, who manufactured it, etc.
To Mr. Gibson, I commend you on your journey, on your work, and your dedication. The book took me long to read because I ended up getting lost in Google while reading the book, to learn more about Wayne Lo, Galen, the area etc. My sincerest condolences.
November 30, 2019
I was annoyed at first that the author used his son's death as a platform to write a book and I was focused more on that than the true-crime aspect, which is why I chose the book in the first place. But I kept plugging away and then I couldn't put it down. The details of the shooting with which the author was obsessed was partly for the book but also his journey through the grief process. I would probably do the same thing. I would need to know who, what, why, when, how in order to move on.
Fascinating and well written.
Fascinating and well written.
October 30, 2020
I am torn on this book. On the one hand, it was so interesting to see the journey of a father of a victim of a school shooting go down the rabbit hole and come back out. On the other hand, there were a lot of pages I skimmed with so much data about gun control, SKS guns, etc. While I understand the importance of those ideas, I wanted more about Gregory, Galen, and the other people in this book.
August 24, 2018
I feel honored to have read this book. Personal and eloquent, the author’s journey towards understanding his son’s murder at the hands of a gun-carrying, mentally ill classmate could, sadly, have been written just yesterday by the parent of a Newtown/Parkland/Virginia Tech student instead of back in 1999. As Gibson writes, “No one’s life ever got better because of a gun.”
August 29, 2018
Interesting and moving narrative by the father of a young man killed in a shooting at his college. The father becomes very informed about the shooter, the gun and college administrations to ascertain exactly what happened. It helps him in the grieving process and forces the reader to confront the reality of gun violence.
August 14, 2020
I highly recommend. America needs to take another look on gun control I think. My opinion is inspired by this book. Anyone who is interested in gun control or why mass shootings happen should read this book.
October 17, 2021
It’ll suck you in for sure. Analytical and at the same heartfelt, this book captures a father’s experience of dealing with grief over a murdered son. I like how it’s honest and gritty at times with serious questions about manhood and American culture.
August 1, 2017
An interesting perspective on a tragic event, from the father of the victim of a mass shooting, marred somewhat by the author's obsession with detail and a somewhat condescending attitude.
October 3, 2020
One man's story of trying to make sense of his son's 1992 death at the hands of a school shooter. Very moving and personal memoir.
July 14, 2024
Simply painful.
June 25, 2025
Thank God Gibson was able to write this book. So much wisdom
April 8, 2008
A father loses his son when a fellow student randomly shoots him and wounds others on a college campus in the Northeast. Fueled by a consuming sense of loss and a desire to hold the college accountable for his son's death, the father pursues his own investigation of the shooter, his family and the owner of the gun shop that sold the gun. The father's investigation leads him down a path of understanding, forgiveness and healing he could not have imagined when he started his pursuit. A true and powerful story.
July 24, 2014
Not sure why this ended up on my bookshelves at home--largely self-reflective journey of a father trying to figure out how his son was killed in a school shooting. He blames the school for the majority of the book, trying to get some settlement with them and the school administrator to admit he made an error (which he did.) Not a bad writer, but, other than make the father feel better, I'm not sure what I gained from this.
August 3, 2016
I'm sorry for Mr Gibson's loss of his son - but this school sounds like a viper's nest of misfits!! Poorly written and very, very repetitious. As I read I googled the crime. Richard Thomas was not mentioned as a shooting victim and Matthew Lee David was???? What's the scoop on that? And, a final note.....for someone who wasn't concerned about the money angle, he sure knew how he was going to spend it!! I didn't like Greg or his son!!
January 2, 2013
This heart rendering story about a father trying to make sense of his son's murder in a school shooting is the best one I've ever read.
Gibson seeks answers to questions no one can truly provide -- but by looking he finds some peace.
When his son is murdered, this journey was his way of fitting that loss into his life.
Gibson seeks answers to questions no one can truly provide -- but by looking he finds some peace.
When his son is murdered, this journey was his way of fitting that loss into his life.
abandoned
November 9, 2008I can't get into this book. I tried.
January 19, 2012
A story of discovery and healing.
August 5, 2013
It was good, moving. I feel sorry for the father.
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