NRA — The Power of Dread on the Threshold of Anarchy

May 19th, 2013

My recent article on gun control brought more visitors to my web site than any I have posted in the past two years. I appreciate the interest and I am grateful to those who took the time either to comment or write. This is my second article on the subject. I did not intend a series, but given the breath and tone of the responses, another posting seemed to be in order.

John J. Hohn, Author

A contagion rages. Gun sales have been running at all time highs since the Sandy Hook massacre. Apparently, few stop to think about how unlikely it is that they will be caught in a situation where they will need a gun for self defense. Crazed gunmen don’t single out a stranger’s home as a target. No parent could rush to a school or a movie theater in time with a semi-automatic weapon to intervene commando style to save the lives of those under attack. The odds are almost beyond calculating, yet thousands are reacting as if these are likely—almost eminent—scenarios.

People seem to trust that, given the threat, anyone can handle a gun with the efficiency of a psychopathic assassin. They obviously believe that they will react with a murderous calm despite a rush of adrenalin, the awareness of another human threatening them, and the need for urgency. Apparently, they see themselves taking deadly aim with a steady hand and dispatching their adversary with clinical precision. Add a high capacity magazine, and aiming isn’t necessary. Just keep firing until the villain is down, but keep an eye out for grandma’s china.

Giving Even One Child Better Odds of Surviving . . .

My contention all along has been that high-capacity magazines and military style assault weapons should be banned. Further, I believe that background checks must be extended to include sales at gun shows and other fair style markets. If only one child’s life is saved by enacting this legislation, it is worth it. No other argument makes sense. What the NRA is saying is that these massacres cannot be prevented. They oppose any steps to limit the efficiency of the killer. The NRA is effectively saying that they don’t care if a few children and other innocents lose their lives because the freedom to own any kind of gun and to carry it anywhere is more important.

When I first moved to North Carolina in 1978, I was amazed to see people flock to the stores whenever a snow storm was forecast and stock up on milk, bread and other staples for fear of being forced to go without. They acted as if they expected to be isolated by bad weather for days on end. Their rush to fill the fridge and pantry was fueled by dread—that they will be cut off from their food and water supplies for an intolerable length of time and be gravely inconvenienced; perhaps even suffer death because of these deprivations. Something from the DNA of the early pioneers must be firing off the synapses that motivate modern man to react as if hunkered down in a log cabin miles from the nearest neighbor, low on fire wood and butchering the family pet to survive. That is how dread works in a relatively harmless way. When it comes to guns, however, the subject turns quite deadly.

The Power of Dread . . .

Fear, one author wrote, is rational, reality based and quantifiable. An angry dog charging a person gives rise to fear. Dread on the other hand is not reality based. Its power comes from the fact that it cannot be quantified. Thus a person can so dread an encounter with an angry dog that leaving the house at all is unthinkable. Dread doesn’t yield to any analysis or statistical probability. It persists even when reasonable measures are taken to prevent the dreaded threat from occurring. Dread has taken over when it comes to guns today.  Having a loaded gun in the closet may reduce the level of dread by creating a false sense of security for the owner. The odds that an innocent party will fall victim to the gun are, however,  far greater than the probability that it will ever be used against an intruder. The owner’s household, in other words, is less safe than it would be with no gun on the premises. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted in Commentary, Gun Control Legislation, Law Enforcement and Crime, Psychology | No Comments »

Senators Favor NRA Approval Over the Chance at Saving A Child’s Life

May 8th, 2013

Here, never to be forgotten, is the list of the Senators who preferred to keep favor with the NRA rather than take one small step to protect our children. Listed below are the Senators who voted against extending background checks to include gun shows and other improvised markets.

1.            Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
2.            Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)
3.            Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)
4.            Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)
5.            Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK)
6.            Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
7.            Sen. John Boozman (R-AR)
8.            Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC)
9.            Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
10.          Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN)
11.          Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
12.          Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS)
13.          Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN)
14.          Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
15.          Sen. Michael Crapo (R-ID)
16.          Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
17.          Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY)
18.          Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE)
19.          Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
20.          Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
21.          Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA)
22.          Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
23.          Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)
24.          Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV)
25.          Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND)
26.          Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK)
27.          Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
28.          Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE)
29.          Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)
30.          Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)
31.          Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
32.          Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS)
33.          Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
34.          Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
35.          Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH)
36.          Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR)
37.          Sen. James Risch (R-ID)
38.          Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)
39.          Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
40.          Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)
41.          Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
42.          Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL)
43.          Sen. John Thune (R-SD)
44.          Sen. David Vitter (R-LA)
45.          Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS)

The NRA claims that background checks will not prevent another Sandy Hook. The real issue is whether extending background checks could potentially prevent one lunatic from acquiring a rapid fire* assault weapon. Doing so might save a child’s life. The horror is that a Sandy Hook is likely to happen again. There are too many guns unaccounted for among our citizens, thanks in no small part to the hysteria promoted by the NRA over the years on behalf of the gun manufacturers. But if one background check prevented one crazy gunman from killing one child, then it would be worth it.

People Use Guns to Kill People . . .

John J Hohn and his dog Jessie

John J Hohn and his dog Jessie

NRA members are quick to cite the fatuous and insulting argument that “Guns don’t kill people, people do.” Yes, people kill people. People use guns kill other people. That’s the point. The truth is that if rapid fire semi-automatic assault rifles* stay on the market, the people who want to kill other people will be equipped to do so more efficiently.  Put a killer in a school with an semi-automatic assault weapon with a high capacity magazine  and more children will die. It’s that simple.

High capacity magazines assault rifles are not necessary for the defense of one’s home. At Sandy Hook, twenty-two children were murdered. Four teachers were  killed–deaths numbering much higher than ever reported as having attacked a home. Protecting a home does not require that much  firepower,  yet the fear is hyped by the NRA and ordinary suspend good judgement and actually believe it.

The NRA discounts the call to pass rational gun control legislation by labeling it an emotional reaction to the recent tragedies. Of course it is. Kids were slaughtered at school. Teachers were murdered. Families grieved. Lives were changed permanently. If that doesn’t get an emotional response then we are in very serious trouble. The real shame is that we did not get an emotional response from our Senate who should have done everything possible to prevent another tragedy of such horrible proportions.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted in Commentary, Community, Gun Control Legislation, Law Enforcement and Crime, Politics | 6 Comments »

Self-Publishing Industry Targets Writers as the Consumers

May 5th, 2013

John J. Hohn, Author

Anybody with the bucks can publish a book. It’s no longer a big deal, although an author can tap into an allotted fifteen minutes of fame basking in the praise of family and friends—hardly the most objective critics. There’s a misnomer at work. Self-publishing or publishing-on-demand only means printing. Bringing a book to market should be called self-marketing because that is what it is all about. Traditional publishers don’t just print books, they market them—something few outside the industry ever take into account. Thus, the huge surprise reported by first time self-published authors. They need to market their work if they want sales and recognition.

Books, even great ones, do not sell themselves. Making matters infinitely worse, of course, is that most writers are not attracted to nor interested in jobs in marketing and sales. Many even nurture at least a mild disdain for that kind of work, if not a passionate dislike for it and everyone so employed.

A First Mistake . . .

Traditional publishers know the ground on which the battle for readers is fought. They have the networks, the contacts, the reviewers, and the wholesale buyers all lined up for their next offering. The self-published neophyte enters the field virtually unarmed and with no knowledge of strategy or tactics as they presume to contend against the well equipped veteran forces of the industry. The freshman author’s first mistake is to regard traditional publishers as adversaries. They are not.

The real adversaries are the new author’s would be friends—the legions of printers, publicists, contest promoters, etc. 99 percent of self-published authors don’t make money. They lose it. But those would be friends, those who work in the industry promoting a granfalloon of fraternity, mutual support and mentoring, do. They make the money.

A combination of vivid imagination, discipline in postponing gratification, and ignorance make the inexperienced authors fair game for those who are in the business for the buck. They can rely on an author to be patient for results. After all, it took months to write a book. They can count on the author to envision the ultimate goal of recognition, praise, and financial reward. Working with the stuff of dreams is an author’s stock and trade. And ignorance, well, ignorance can hold its own by remaining silent on its own behalf. Being impaled on one’s strengths is a horrible way to lose.

A Little Self-Assessment . . .

A first step in fending off the seductive pitches of the predators prowling the industry is an honest, brutal self-assessment. Some questions cannot be ignored:

  • Can I sell? Have I ever sold anything? Successfully? Will I enjoy selling?
  • How will I attract buyers to my book?
  • How many books can I reasonably expect to sell?
  • What is the market for my book? How do I enter that market?
  • How much time am I willing to spend each week promoting my book?
  • How many new books are published each year? How many in the same genre as my book?

If an author answers, “No,” or “I don’t know,” to most of the above, then the first logical step is to back fill with research and study. Rather than do that, however, most first-time authors delegate those tasks to someone who seems to know and pay them to take on the job. Those vying for the role are legion. They are printers, marketers and sales organizations, surprise—surprise, who know how to sell their services to aspiring writers. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted in Books, Commentary, Writing and Publishing | No Comments »

Variable Annuities Insure Beneficiaries Against Loss Due to Market Risk

April 26th, 2013

This is the second in a series of articles that I am writing on variable annuities. Readers are urged to read the first installment before tackling the one that follows.

My initial article about variable annuities stressed:

  • Financial advisers have strong incentives to sell variable annuities as they pay more in commissions than most other investment vehicles.
  • Variable annuities offer an array of funds into which the owner can allocate funds based upon the owner’s objectives and risk tolerance.
  • Variable annuities offer tax-deferment of capital gains and dividend and interest income, none of which need to be reported until funds are withdrawn from the annuity.
  • Contributions to variable annuities are not tax-deductible as with IRA’s, 401(k)’s or 403(b).
  • Annuity companies charge an early withdrawal fee during the first several years that an annuity is in place. Funds can be withdrawn, however, prior to the age of 59 ½ without incurring a tax penalty from the IRS.
Author John J. Hohn, Retired Financial Adviser

Financial Adviser John J. Hohn, Retired

Everyone knows that investing entails risk. The stock market goes up and down. The bond market is in and out of favor. Even gold and precious metals can be volatile. Nothing is an absolute sure thing.

Variable annuities, however, assume most of the market risk for the investor by insuring the amount invested for the beneficiaries named in the contract in the event of the owner’s death. Thus, the value of the owner’s estate is not subject to market risk. This is an attractive option for investors who are within a decade or so of retirement when mortality becomes a very serious component in financial planning for a surviving spouse or children.

To illustrate, an investor could fund a variable annuity with $50,000. The contract would insure the initial investment so that, if the value of the investment dropped because of poor market performance to, say, $30,000, the named beneficiary would be paid the initial amount of $50,000 in the event of the owner’s death.

Protecting the Growth

Further, many companies insure the value of a variable annuity beyond the amount of the initial investment. Many contracts stipulate that the company will pay the highest amount achieved on the anniversary of the effective date by the funds in the contract. The original $50,000, in other words, might grow so that on the third anniversary of the contract, the variable annuity is worth $70,000.  If, in the year thereafter, the market collapses, and the stated value of the funds within the annuity drops to $45,000, the beneficiaries named in the contract would receive the $70,000 value level recorded on an anniversary date.

Contracts do not insure the highest level achieved in the market. They insure the highest amount achieved and recorded on an anniversary of the effective date of the variable annuity.

Over the years, additional insurance features have been added to variable annuities and companies are continuing to innovate. Insured income is one such innovation and one that I plan to cover in my next article.

Not a Substitute for Life Insurance

Insurance against market risk is a major advantage of a variable annuity. It is not a substitute for life insurance, but a supplementary protection for the estate of the owner.  Fees for variable annuities are higher because of the life insurance feature. The health and age of the owner is not considered in the application. The insurance component of the fee, therefore, is a flat charge, and it is the same for all owners as the contract is not rated as a life insurance policy would be.

Because variable annuities are long term contracts with early withdrawal fees, they should be considered only when other contingencies have been addressed in a financial plan including an emergency contingency fund, fully funded retirement plans such as an IRA or 401(k). Usually owners are advised not to tap into a variable annuity for retirement income but to hold them in reserve because of their insurance value. The reserve strategy presupposes that other funds will be invested to supplement retirement income from social security and/or pensions. Under most circumstance, a balanced financial plan for retirement would commit no more than 25 per cent of a portfolio to a variable annuity.  Although variable annuities are covered by the Security Investors Protection Corporation (SIPC), it is generally not advisable to invest more than 10 percent or $500,000 in any one variable annuity company.

Considering Only Financial Strong Companies

Prospective buyers should consult Best’s Insurance Guide for the rating of the strength of the company(ies) being considered. Do Not Accept the adviser’s or salesperson’s word. Best’s rating system is very sophisticated and uses language that is calculated not to offend the companies being rated. That said, the description that Best’s give whereas  further study often reveals that they are not a good choice. Final selection of a company should be from top two or three tiers of the Best system.  The hierarchy of the rating system is explained on the internet and in Best’s published annual volumes, the latter being available at most public libraries.

Variable annuities are a very valuable retirement and estate planning investment. The designation of  primary and secondary beneficiaries facilitates immediate payout of the proceeds of the contract upon the death of the owner, unlike the rest of an estate which can be delayed by probate or actions on behalf of heirs in protest against a will or revocable trust. Care needs to be taken in selecting a contract and the company making it available. The purchase is not a casual decision. Any buyer being rushed to a decision should be suspicious of the salesperson’s intentions or the quality of the product being recommended.

Thanks for checking in. I welcome comments below and invite you to look through the pages of my web site. Watch for my next article on variable annuities which ill be posted in a few days.

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Variable Annuities Offer Tax Advantages as a Retirement Investment Vehicle

April 20th, 2013
Author John J. Hohn, Retired Financial Adviser

Financial Adviser John J. Hohn, Retired

Financial advisers have several good reasons for selling variable annuities to their clients. They get paid more for one thing. On most other investments, the higher the amount a client invests the lower commission rate is for the adviser. In mutual funds, this is called a “break point.” An advisor, to illustrate, may get paid 5.00% when a client buys less than $25,000 of shares in a stock mutual fund. If the purchase falls between $25,000 and $49,999, the adviser may get paid 4.50%. Thus at $24,999, the advisor’s commission is $1249.95, but at $25,000, the amount drops to $1125.00. Commission rates vary from company to company and depend largely upon the kind of fund being sold, but the break point pricing is accepted industry wide. If a client ever finds an adviser recommending a slightly lower purchase, a higher commission may be the reason.

For an industry that is capable of some of the most exotic probability computations, it is to be asked why after all these years hasn’t a formula be worked out to replace the anachronistic break point system. The variable annuity industry has solved the problem, but their solution favors the adviser and not the investor. With variable annuities, the commission schedule does not have break points in it. An adviser gets paid the same percentage at $250,000 as at $25,000. Investors need to be aware that the incentives to increase the amount of every sale are there for the adviser.

Variable annuities differ from fixed annuities in that variable annuities allow the investor access to an array of mutual funds, and the money placed in the variable annuity can be spread out or allocated among the funds available in a manner that suits the objectives and risk tolerance of the investor. An aggressive investor, for example, may want 85% or more of the money in the variable annuity directed toward equity or common stock funds. More conservative investors may prefer bond funds instead. Fixed annuities do not provide this kind of flexibility.  Fixed annuities are invested as the annuity company directs. The owner of a fixed annuity usually has little or no say in the investment strategy.

Variable annuities offer the same tax advantages as an IRA or 401(k) in that the growth of the funds in the annuity and the interest and dividend income earned are tax deferred until such time as a withdrawal is made. Then withdrawals are treated as regular income and taxed as income in the year that the withdrawal is made. Unlike an IRA or 401(k), however, no tax penalty is assessed on withdrawals made prior to age 55 ½. Also, it is very important to recognize that payments into a variable annuity cannot be treated as a tax deduction. An investor is advised under most circumstance, therefore, to make a maximum contribution to an IRA or 401(k) before considering the purchase of a variable annuity.

Variable annuities are long term investment vehicles. Companies almost always impose an early withdrawal charge to offset the cost of issuing the contract and the selling costs. Early withdrawal charges are usually on a declining scale and may start as high as 15% and remain in effect for as long as 10 years after the date the contract is issued.  The percentage amount charged and length of time during which the early withdrawal charge is in effect varies from one company to the next. Since most advisers represent more than one company, a client should ask about early withdrawal charges and request a comparison if more than one contract is under consideration.

In my next post, I will discuss the insurance features of variable annuities. Please watch for it. Thank you for looking in on my web site. Please feel free to check out the other pages or leave a comment below.

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Posted in Financial Planning, Investments, Retirement, Tax Planning | 1 Comment »

Revised Priorities Dictate a Change in Format for this Web Site.

April 14th, 2013

John J. Hohn, Author

I started this web site nearly two years ago. During that time, I have posted 109 different articles on a variety of subjects. The web site has built up of a following of approximately 450 visits on a rolling 30 day period with nearly 70% of those visiting the site doing so for the first time. My hope in launching the site was that it would attract readers who would also be interested in my novel, Deadly Portfolio: A Killing in Hedge Funds. Sales of my novel have been increasing steadily. I had my best month ever in March, 2013. The problem, however, remains that the number of visits and the volume of sales do not correlate. The web site has failed to generate sales at a rate that justifies continuing it in its present format. I need to evaluate my priorities as a result.

For nearly a year, I have been working on a sequel to Deadly Portfolio: A Killing in Hedge funds. Detective James Raker became a favorite with readers, and he is also featured in the sequel. I am eager to complete it and submit it into my publisher. If I want to reach my goal and get the sequel published, I cannot afford as much time as I have spent over the past two years writing for the web site.

Abandoning the web site is tantamount to turning my back on all the hard work that has gone into creating it and keeping it alive and a going concern. I want to continue writing articles for it, perhaps one a week going forward. The articles will be much shorter in length. Most will be less than 500 words. I will also be posting articles on other web sites with much larger followings in the markets that are give my book better exposure.  Sherrie Wikolaski’s Thriller Ink, for example, generates more traffic to my blog than any other source.  I expect to post an article on a monthly basis on Thriller Ink. Articles will also be posted on other literary sites as well. I will post links to my articles on my web site as well as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn so that those who want to follow my work as they have on my web site will find where my work is being published.

I want to thank all those who have followed my postings and for the many encouraging and supporting remarks that I have received. I hope that none will be disappointed in this change of direction. Maybe shorter articles will be more appealing and attract more followers than the longer pieces. At this point, I simply need to try a different approach and monitor the results. Hopefully, it will be a change for the better for all concerned. I will certainly continue to monitor the results and remain poised to  make future changes whenever they seem necessary. My aim all along has been to become a recognized writer of quality fiction, and I appreciate all of the support that others have given me in my efforts to realize that goal.

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Posted in Commentary, Deadly Portfolio, Writing and Publishing | No Comments »

April 6 is My Mother’s Birthday, My Tribute to her: Ileen Carlon Hohn

April 7th, 2013
Author John J. Hohn's Mother Ileen Carlon Hohn, 1980

Ileen Caron Hohn, 1980. John J. Hohn’s Mother

April 6 is my mother’s birthday. She died in January, 1985 after struggling with breast cancer for several months. I loved my mother. I can’t say that I always understood her. She had difficulty making herself understood to others. I think, in fact, that she had difficulty making herself understood to herself as well.

“Oh, Sonny,” she would start to explain, and then lose the thread to her thought. “That’s just the sort of thing that a person . .  . well . . . a person just . . . knows.” She would laugh until she cried at Donald O’Conner, Danny Kaye, Lou Costello, Gracie Allen and Lucille Ball, especially when they seemed overwhelmed with their plight. In later years it came to me that their humor was a metaphor for her. She must have seen herself in their antics and laughed because of it. When Dad wouldn’t take her to the movies, she took me—on a school night, no less. We saw Mario Lanza in The Student Prince, The Great Caruso, and Because You Are Mine. We saw all of the Francis, the Talking Mule movies and Singing in the Rain every time it came back to town.

She loved Lawrence Welk who was a guest in our home when he first began with WNAX radio in Yankton, SD. She exhorted my sister and my brother and me “ . . . to be somebody” in a way that told us that she didn’t think we were and that she probably didn’t believe she was either.

Ileen Carlon Hohn as a College Student, circa 1921

Mother was proud of her Irish heritage. Dad, of course, was German. Mother would decry during one of her lectures to the three of us, “An Irishman may be drunk. He may be a good for nothing loothy,* but he could make his woman feel loved.” Or later, when she thought we were older, therefore, sympathetic, she delighted in saying, “First there’s me, then Gott, then nobody, then nobody, then maybe you. That’s a German for you.”

Poor Dad. Mother remained a mystery to him. One year, Dad gave mother a 20 gauge shotgun for Christmas. “I got buck fever,” mother said when she came out of the cornfield. A pheasant took flight in front of her in the corn rows that towered over her stout 5 foot, 2 inch frame, and she could not fire the gun. She never tried again. Dad cut the stock down on the gun so that my brother and I could fit it to our shoulders.

We often drove over to Lake Okoboji in Iowa, a distance of about 300 miles, to stay with my Aunt May, mother’s sister, who had a cottage on the lake shore. Dad often stayed home to attend to his dental practice. We loved it when mother drove and Dad was not in the car. The speed slowly picked up on her until she was flying down the highway well over the speed limit.

“My God, how did you get here so fast?” Dad demanded as we pulled into the driveway at the end of one return trip. Mother had called to say we were on our way before we got into the car at the lake.

Mother with the Family. (L to R) Dad, Jim, Mary, Mom and Me. Circa 1948

“I  drove 55 miles an hour all the way, Daddy, except when we were on gravel.” In the 1940’s, it was common to have a stretch of gravel road somewhere on a route of any distance when driving in the Midwest. High speeds on gravel were not safe. The route we followed to Lake Okoboji had about a 35 miles stretch as soon as we crossed into Iowa.

Dad said nothing. He went into the house, sat down at the dining room table, and began writing. “OK,” he announced after a few minutes. “If you drove 55 miles an hour on the paved roads, then the way I figure it, you drove at least 223 miles per hour on the gravel road.”

Mother and I had a special connection. Her intuition was her genius. “That wasn’t careless driving,” she scolded when I scraped the side of the station wagon against the garage door. “That’s something a boy would do when he is thinking about the wrong things.”  I had just broken up with my steady girlfriend and wondered how she knew.

I called her often after I moved away from home. “Hello, Sonny,” she would answer. She had no way of knowing that I was on the other end of the line.

“You’re not here to listen to all the times that it is not you,” Dad would grumble.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Detroit Riots in 1967 About Civil Rights Changed Lives, Perhaps the City Itself.

April 3rd, 2013

This is the final installment of a series that I have offered on my family’s experience living in Detroit during the mid-1960’s, a period of violent social unrest and the battle over Civil Rights. Readers are urged to read the previous post(s) before wading into this one.

John J. Hohn, Author

By Thursday, July 27, 1967, the rioting on the east side of Detroit stopped. The army had taken charge. The same was not true on the west side where the National Guard was deployed. The National Guard was under army command, but the units on duty were still led by their own officers.

Businesses in the downtown area—the banks, insurance companies, brokerage houses, and others—opened for business on Thursday in spite of the continuing turmoil. About 60 percent of our employees reported to work. My department went to work on the huge backlog of work that we knew would result in a deluge of telephone complaints as soon as the agency force returned to work.

The previous day, I had called the supervisor who reported to me and invited her and her mother to come stay with us until the rioting stopped. She lived in the troubled area, but she declined our invitation saying the she felt things were settling down. On Thursday, she and I began calling the employees who had not reported. Most agreed that, barring any increased violence, they would report the following day.

Thursday was also a relatively quiet day in the riot area. Fires were still being set, but National Guardsmen were no longer permitted to carry live ammunition. Preparations were being made for their withdrawal so that city could be put back into the hands of local authorities.

Peace and quiet may have returned to the inner city, but the lives of many were changed by all that had transpired. One of the older women working in my department sounded very frightened when I called her on Friday. She said that she did not want to leave her apartment. A neighbor went out to get her groceries for her. I felt her fear was understandable given her age, but she reported still being afraid on Monday even after a calm weekend. I told her that the company would allow Thursday and Friday as excused absences, but any additional time taken would be recorded as vacation time. I called her every day for a week. Each time she reported that she was afraid to leave her apartment. When her vacation time ran out, I told her that she would not be paid if she did not report for work. I held her job open for two more weeks, expecting that she would eventually be convinced to catch the bus and report in for work.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Civil Rights Riots in Detroit Wongly Blamed on Failure to of President Johnson’s Great Society to Deliver

March 22nd, 2013

This is the fourth installment on a series that I have offered on my family’s experience living in Detroit during the mid-1960’s, a period of violent social unrest and the battle over Civil Rights. Readers are urged to read the previous post(s) before wading into this one.

John J. Hohn, Author

I did not feel that I was taking any particular risk when I drove down to the office on Tuesday morning, July 27, 1967. News coverage continued reporting on the riot throughout the night, but my wife and I started the day with the expectation that order would be shortly restored and the city would return back to normal.

Looking back today at the pictures of the riot area, (pictures)  the destruction and the faces of all those who were caught in the middle of it, I realize that as a young white couple, my wife and I lived a lot more than three miles from the danger and the riot. We lived in a world apart. We knew nothing of life in the city. The 18 months we spent in lily white south Minneapolis was on the fringe of the wealthy neighborhood near Lake Harriet. We could walk two blocks to the beach in our swimsuits and flip-flops with our towels hung around our necks. We never sensed fear.

Furthermore, we never thought for one moment that Detroit would be our home. I had a college degree. I had a career. Detroit was just a stop on the way. The corporate ladder stretched upwards for me, and I was confident that in time I could ascend so that I could make wonderful things happen for my family. We were going to be affluent and comfortable. We would find a city that we wanted to call home—in a safe, affluent neighborhood with good schools and parks. That would be the payoff. I didn’t realize it then, but what separated us from the people caught up in the violence, killing and arson was not so much race or the color of our skins. What separated us was hope. Hope for a better life. We were confident that, regardless of the hardships we might endure along the way, the world would ultimately be ours to shape as we pleased. That would be our reward for persisting, for doing what we were taught—working hard, telling the truth, loving our family, and being kind to others. Even if we failed, we knew the opportunity was ours to pursue.

No Expectations  . . .

Those who were in the riot areas, who watched their businesses, their homes and possessions, and their autos burn through the night, harbored no such expectations. The most responsible members of that inner city community were living in poverty that was generations deep. The schools were separate and inferior to those outside the inner city. Children didn’t venture into the parks because parks belonged to the drug dealers and gangs. Residents feared the police because an encounter with the law might mean a beating.

Some analysts wrote that the riot was an expression of impatience. Things had been getting better, some wrote, and the citizens of the inner city had grown to expect more—more and better jobs, better schools, and better police protection. They—the federal government, the city administration, the state—had failed to deliver the last 10 percent of what people were expecting. Expectations turned to disappointment, disappointment to anger and anger to desperation. That kind of commentary was well received by the whites.

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Radiance, Phil Kenney’s Debut Novel, Deals with Age Old Questions of Life, Death and Fulfillment

March 17th, 2013
John J Hohn and his dog Jessie

John J Hohn and his dog Jessie

Phil Kenney’s debut novel Radiance is a passionate family history that spans three generations until it settles on Jimmy and Daisy, mother and son, as the central characters. Kenney, a poet, knows that triumph and tragedy are defined by the context that we set for ourselves. The context can be as narrow as parent and child or lovers caught up in a betrayal. Or the context can be life itself prevailing over annihilation and meaninglessness. In Radiance, Kenney deals with the age old questions of life and death, fulfillment and despair, achievement and failure. He takes enormous risks in his piecing his story together and most often he succeeds—if not triumphs—in the telling of it.

A practicing psychotherapist, Kenney knows that the struggles of any generation are in large part against a legacy of deprivations and indulgences of the generation immediately preceding it, of children against parents.

The story begins with Ruth Brennan, the grandmother who is married to Warren. The couple struggles to raise their three sons in the poverty that gripped turn of the century mid-America. Ruth nearly dies giving birth to her third son, Gerald. Her survival is tantamount to a second birth for her and becomes the emotional base for a precious relationship with her youngest son Gerald.

The story begins as well with Daisy. Author Kenney lets the reader know very early on where his story is heading. The prologue states that

It was Daisy who hid from her friends, from her husband, and, with great success, from herself . . .  .

Kenney has three prominent voices as an author. He speaks only as narrator very seldom, unattached and objective. He speaks as the narrator through his characters more frequently, and his story unfolds in an easy flowing, third-person delivery that is lively and engaging. At times, he speaks in the first person as one of the characters. The Prologue begins with Daisy addressing the reader in the first person. Daisy comments on her own death.

What was left of me, what remained after the passing of every last character, every last imposter and ghostly sprit is what you could a call a soul. No larger than my thumbnail.

Daisy’s monologue from the beyond overflows with forgiveness and compassion for her historical self. Forgiveness, in fact, becomes one of Kenney’s important underlying themes.

Daisy and Gerald marry and they have two sons, Frank and Jimmy. The reader follows this family through the twentieth century as if they were modeled for a diorama. Daisy is beautiful and gracious. Everyone loves Daisy. Gerald is successful but uptight and unavailable. Frank is a star athlete and successful attorney. Their achievements are a given and peripheral to the real struggle in the life of each—to find a degree of personal fulfillment and contentment with self.

All of the characters in the story, except for Jim, fade away as victims of their own dynamics and the banalities of their era—split level homes in suburbia, “Sing Along with Mitch” on Sunday night television, American Bandstand, and Lawrence Welk whose music—utterly devoid of passion or yearning—becomes the iconic expression of a generation seeking to forget the deprivations of the Great Depression and the horror of young men dying in the war. The culture so effectively enables forgetfulness and denial, that

  . . .the collective memory was destroyed with the same brutality and absolute efficiency as the genocide of Native Americans.

Kenney has enormous confidence in his readers. He rejects a chronological history, preferring instead to have events take place as dictated by a hierarchy of the soul; i.e. what is most important in the life. We find, for example, that Daisy may be dead in one chapter and yet alive in a subsequent. Frank may be clinging to life in the hospital only to be energetically engaged in an episode later in the book. One must assume for an author who writes as well as Kenney does that all his choices are deliberate. Given that, I found his changes in voice to be too frequent and often without justification given the weight of the story at the time. Most readers,  however, will not be distracted because Kenney’s vigorous prose carries his story forward so powerfully.

While Daisy is prominent, the story is Jimmy’s, so much so that Jimmy and the narrator become one at times. Kenney’s prose is rich with metaphor and humor. Kenney has created a rhapsody. In doing so he contends with the ancients. His is the story of the modern middle-class American family—a life driven by pursuit of status and comfort, and the eagerness to please. The triumph of modern man is that he succeeded in these endeavors. His failure is that he did so at the cost of his own fulfillment. From the beginning, Jimmy’s spiritual journey is every man’s. Radiance is more than just another contemporary novel. It is penetrating study of the spiritual and psychological health of the culture of America as it became a dominant world power in the twentieth century.

Author’s Note: I compose my posts using Word and transfer to the word-processing program available through my web site manager. I use the spell check facility on both programs. I intentionally use incomplete sentences or fragments as a stylistic choice. I am very grateful for the proofreading and editing skills volunteered by my wife Melinda as a second check against my oversights.  If any errors in the text escaped both of us, please do not hesitate to let me know.

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