![]() The few who had met Tony, could not be sure they boy they met was the one with whom they had spoken. Monette began to investigate Vicki Johnson, and discovered she was a woman who was interested in creative writing, and had no credentials in social work. Her article, "The Author Nobody's Met" ran in May of 1993. After publication of his book, Tony became the subject of a number of feature stories, including one on the front page of USA Today and one in thePost, and Michele Ingrassia of Newsweek began to investigate. Anderson noticed that Vicki Johnson and Tony had the same voice, and several of his friend had noticed incongruities in Tony's stories about himself. A television documentary was made of Tony's life, using a child actor in his stead. John Phair of Northwestern medical school. Although he had lost a leg and been injured by a stroke, Tony continued his phone conversations with well-known writers and activists, including Jay Godby (whose name Tony adopted as his middle name), editor David Groff, Terry Anderson (Maupin's partner), and Dr. The book was extraordinarily sophisticated for a fifteen-year-old to have written, and Tony was heralded as a kind of abused prodigy and inspiration for everyone. Publishers at Crown books published Johnson's "A Rock and a Hard Place," Tony's memoir of his abuse and illness. He wrote to and befriended Paul Monette, the gay activist and author of "Love Alone," and "Borrowed Time." Monette’s view of Tony concurred with Maupin's. Maupin was not the first writer to whom Tony reached out. Although Maupin had never met Anthony Johnson, nicknamed Tony, he felt Tony was a close friend and one of the more inspirational people he had ever met, and their friendship was the basis of Maupin's book The Night Listener. For months Armistead Maupin had been talking on the phone with Anthony Godby Johnson, the adopted son of Vicki Johnson, a social worker whom he claimed had adopted him after his real parents were tried and sentenced for physical and sexual abuse. One man was even quoted in “Jumpers” saying that, “If one person smiles at me on the way, I will not jump.A REPORTER AT LARGE on how several writers were drawn in by the apparently fictitious story of a deeply talented, sexually abused boy who had contracted AIDS from one of his abusers. The act can be as simple as a “hello” or even a smile. The intervention doesn’t even have to a large gathering of people, it can simply be a stranger taking the time to notice that another individual is hurting. It can be the one thing that saves a person from committing suicide. This piece shined a light on the concept of intervention. Richard Seiden, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley’s School of Public Health, who said, “if you can get a suicidal person through his crisis… chances are extremely good that he won’t kill himself later”. In fact, in the article the author mentioned Dr. One of the most important claims made in this article was that suicide can often be prevented. Friend mentions several suicide accounts from those who have witnessed it, and from those who have lived to tell their story. ![]() The Bridge is easily one of San Francisco’s most famous landmarks, and the author alluded to the belief that the bridge’s fame drew people in. ![]() In this article** (can I call it an article), the author discusses the serval reasons why people choose to commit suicide, and more specifically, why they choose the Golden Gate Bridge. Over 1600 people have jumped from the bridge since it opened in 1937. Jumpers by Tad Friend is a piece that discusses the iconic suicide spot, the Golden Gate Bridge. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |