Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001 02:17:01 -0700
From: Hobbyboy <hobby391@att.net>
Subject: Boy From The High Country -- Epilog

Boy From The High Country-- Epilog
by Hobbyboy
hobby391@att.net

To the readers of "Boy from the High Country":

For a story that started out to be a quick first try at writing fiction,
this one seems to have touched a number of readers quite deeply. I'd like
to share with you some excerpts from e-mail I have received about the
story. No names or addresses, of course. I thought those of you who were
moved by the story might appreciate knowing that you were not alone.

"It was nice that a common man(not rich) was able to help another person by
just taking the time out of thier busy schedule and putting a stranger
first.  There was no monetary reward but something more substantial,
helping one's brother and the satisfaction of doing the right thing."--R.

"We are just glad Kelly found someone nice and not forced into sex with an
older man.... [We] really don't care if boys really do LOVE older men. We
just don't want to see them hurt and have forced sex, if sex is forced then
they do need to go to jail...  [We] liked [chapter] 15 the best when the
boys snuck into the camper and slept with you...." (From brothers, late
teens)

"I just needed you to know that you have written this story so well that it
brings back some of my own hidden pain.  You have forced me to start
dealing with some things that I had pushed out of my mind many years ago.
And you have made me cry for that boy who lost his innocence at such a
young age.  I cried tonight for both Kelly and myself, and for that I thank
you."--L.G.

"I had to let you know I was in tears (tears of happiness) when the story
ended.  I wish other boys like Kelly could be saved.  God the throw aways
in this country are intolerable."--B.B.

"I also liked your section about the morality of being gay.  I find myself
shaking my head at the way people talk about sexuality.  I'm a fan of the
show West Wing, and there was a scene when President Bartlett (played by
Martin Sheen) lashes out at a conservative religious bigoted radio talk
show host.  He talks about the fact that the Bible tells us all kinds of
things, and if we were to take them all literally, everyone would be in
jail or damned to hell.... I also echo others when I say, "Take care of
Kelly."  I know you'll miss him, as we all will, just like a great
character of a book that becomes our friend.  Kelly made us happy, brought
us joy, made our heart ache, and our eyes water with tears.  All of us
found something in Kelly to love, and for that you should be proud. "--C.

" It is refreshing to read a story of meaningful love and respect. Most
importantly a story centered around the abuse and continual sexual exploits
of a teenage boy. Your story contain and interesting mix of sexual
background and current activity and the meaning that brought all of this
together... I feel for Art however and hope that someday he will find a
real love who will love him back with all the love he deserves."-- D.R.

"[F]rom the time I was 9 to the time I was 12, I was involved with a boy
who was 17 when we started.  The relationship was pretty exploitive on his
part and for years, I felt terribly guilty that I had enjoyed it so
much... Now you should know that I feel for the first time that I have read
a story which someone has done right.  Maybe, if I had found an Uncle Art
when I was fourteen, my journey would not have been quite so long."-- N.B.

"I am going to miss Art and Kelly, but I will think of them often.  I
wonder how many people this story is going to touch.  I have been single
for almost two years, after ten years of marriage.  I have allowed myself
two people for a few days each to get to know me a little.  They really
weren't what I need in life.  Most of the time I don't even go out.  What's
the use?-- I ask myself.  I have been living with a dead heart, and I
needed Art and Kelly to make me see that.  It's a little after eight and I
am on vacation starting tomorrow.  I think maybe it's time for me to get
rid of my fears and get on with my life and find love."--H.L.

"You teach, so do I. We both know the trust that children have in the next
person to have some time with them other than their parents. You showed
this in the story. Your pulling away at the end and reference to some of
the sadness that Gay people have in their lives was interesting. I lost
most of my peers to Aids during the last 10 to 15 years. I remain without
the support that I had. I am 56 years old... I see compassion in your
writing and a sense of letting go at the right time when it was possible to
change the situation to your own purpose"--H.

"I have had great feelings about your story but today when I read chapter
10, I shed tears. It brought back memories of the past that came flooding
back. I guess I had really not completed the grief process and was still
hanging.--(a Vietnam vet)

"Over our career in mental health we've seen many, many kids like Kelly
come through the doors...the vast majority of them had been both physically
and sexually abused, abandoned and suffered horrors that can still make us
weep in rememberence.  Over the 5 years we worked at the hospital, we
helped treat only one "true" multiple personality disorder.  You could have
been telling that boy's story in "High Country." -- G.

"I can honestly say (the story) is more true that you may think, for I have
been along the road that Kelly is showing in your story, but the best thing
I see in the story the willingness to share each other on equal terms.
Which does not happen in today's time.  ...I like the closeness that you
are writing about for I too know much I have missed out on that way and by
reading your story gives some of that to me... I have a pen friend who is
also 16 and left home under reasons that he was losing his self respect and
has been taken in by a family very close to Art in the story. He even was
so close to taking his life but now is over that as he is cared and wanted
just for the person he is and nothing else. A lot of people would say these
things don't happen in real life, all I can say to them is to take their
heads out of the sand and look around and really look at life."--O. (age
16)

Thank you all for writing. Writing the story was therapeutic for me. I'm
very gratified that it worked so well for so many of you.

And finally, an update on the readership of the story.

To the readers of "Boy from the High Country"

For a story that started out to be a quick first try at writing fiction,
this one seems to have touched a number of readers quite deeply. I'd like
to share with you some excerpts from e-mail I have received about the
story. No names or addresses, of course. I thought those of you who were
moved by the story might appreciate knowing that you were not alone.

"It was nice that a common man(not rich) was able to help another person by
just taking the time out of thier busy schedule and putting a stranger
first.  There was no monetary reward but something more substancial,
helping one's brother and the satisfaction of doing the right thing."--R,

"I just needed you to know that you have written this story so well that it
brings back some of my own hidden pain.  You have forced me to start
dealing with some things that I had pushed out of my mind many years
ago. And you have made me cry for that boy who lost his innocence at such a
young age.  I cried tonight for both Kelly and myself, and for that I thank
you."--L.G.

"But I had to let you know I was in tears (tears of happiness) when the
story ended.  I wish other boys like Kelly could be saved.  God the throw
aways in this country are intolerable."--B.B.

"I also liked your section about the morality of being gay.  I find myself
shaking my head at the way people talk about sexuality.  I'm a fan of the
show West Wing, and there was a scene when President Bartlett (played by
Martin Sheen) lashes out at a conservative religious bigoted radio talk
show host.  He talks about the fact that the Bible tells us all kinds of
things, and if we were to take them all literally, everyone would be in
jail or damned to hell.... I also echo others when I say, "Take care of
Kelly."  I know you'll miss him, as we all will, just like a great
character of a book that becomes our friend.  Kelly made us happy, brought
us joy, made our heart ache, and our eyes water with tears.  All of us
found something in Kelly to love, and for that you should be proud. "--C.

" It is refreshing to read a story of meaningful love and respect. Most
importantly a story centered around the abuse and continual sexual exploits
of a teenage boy. Your story contain and interesting mix of sexual
background and current activity and the meaning that brought all of this
together... I feel for Art however and hope that someday he will find a
real love who will love him back with all the love he deserves."-- D.R.

"[F]rom the time I was 9 to the time I was 12, I was involved with a boy
who was 17 when we started.  The relationship was pretty exploitive on his
part and for years, I felt terribly guilt that I had enjoyed it so
much... Now you should know that I feel for the first time that I have read
a story which someone has done right.  Maybe, if I had found an Uncle Art
when I was fourteen, my journey would not have been quite so long."-- N.B.

"I am going to miss Art and Kelly, but I will think of them often.  I
wonder how many people this story is going to touch.  I have been single
for almost two years, after ten years of marriage.  I have allowed myself
two people for a few days each to get to know me a little.  They really
weren't what I need in life.  Most of the time I don't even go out.  What's
the use?-- I ask myself.  I have been living with a dead heart, and I
needed Art and Kelly to make me see that.  It's a little after eight and I
am on vacation starting tomorrow.  I think maybe it's time for me to get
rid of my fears and get on with my life and find love."--H.L.

"You teach, so do I. We both know the trust that children have in the next
person to have some time with them other than their parents. You showed
this in the story. Your pulling away at the end and reference to some of
the sadness that Gay people have in their lives was interesting. I lost
most of my peers to Aids during the last 10 to 15 years. I remain without
the support that I had. I am 56 years old... I see compassion in your
writing and a sense of letting go at the right time when it was possible to
change the situation to your own purpose"--h.

"I have had great feelings about your story but today when I read chapter
10, I shed tears. It brought back memories of the past that came flooding
back. I guess I had really not completed the grief process and was still
hanging.... I still feel grudges against the ass holes that caused the war
and the ignorant bastards that were the supervisors and had no feelings for
the youth that were being killed.--(a Vietnam vet)

"Over our career in mental health we've seen many, many kids like Kelly
come through the doors...the vast majority of them had been both physically
and sexually abused, abandoned and suffered horrors that can still make us
weep in rememberence.  Over the 5 years we worked at the hospital, we
helped treat only one "true" multiple personality disorder.  You could have
been telling that boy's story in "High Country." -- G.

"I can honestly say (the story) is more true that you may think, for I have
been along the road that Kelly is showing in your story, but the best thing
I see in the story the willingness to share each other on equal terms.
Which does not happen in today's time.  ...I like the closeness that you
are writing about for I too know much I have missed out on that way and by
reading your story gives some of that to me... I have a pen friend who is
also 16 and left home under reasons that he was losing his self respect and
has been taken in by a family very close to Art in the story. He even was
so close to taking his life but now is over that as he is cared and wanted
just for the person he is and nothing else. A lot of people would say these
things don't happen in real life, all I can say to them is to take their
heads out of the sand and look around and really look at life."--O. (age
16)

Thank you all for writing. So many of your e-mails were thoughtful,
articulate, and often very touching -- so much more than simply "good work"
or "hated it" (actually, no one said that). Writing the story was
therapeutic for me. I'm very gratified that it worked so well for so many
of you.

--Art

Finally, an update on the readership of the story, for what it's worth:

Of 51 reporting their age:
     5 under 21
     4 in 24-32
     6  in 38-42
     23 in 47-62
     11 over 65
     
Of 42 reporting their location in the USA:
     2 from California
     4 from the Central States
     4 from the Great Lakes region
     2 from Hawaii
     5 from the Northeastern States
     9 from the Southeastern States
     2 from the Southwestern States
     3 from the Northwestern States
And other countries:
     Australia (2), Canada (2),England, France, India, Italy, Sweden, and
New Zealand 
8 men identified themselves as married
2 women responded.