Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 2700

Tonight's special guest is Keith Hoerner from Murphysboro, Illinois, who had 11 siblings. Two of them, including Keith, were 'Targeted Children', selected by their mother for severe physical and mental abuse. "My childhood, witnessing my sister getting abused, and in turn—myself—was the baseline for all known memory as a child," Keith explains. "This led me to alcoholism and a diagnosis of PTSD. But I proved resilient: growing relatively strong though on a withering branch. The abuse never ends; survivors learn to manage it." He's an author now whose latest book is a memoir, 'The Day the Sky Broke Open'. "My childhood, witnessing my sister getting abused, and in turn myself, was the baseline for all known memory as a child; this led me to alcoholism and a diagnosis of PTSD," he says. "But I proved resilient: growing relatively strong though on a withering branch. The abuse never ends; survivors learn to manage it. I have been in and out of therapy my whole life. I am now 59 and do see a psychiatrist still, but mainly to oversee/manage my medications. Healing through writing has been key to my health in all ways. I learned that my only 'escape' was to forgive; this was not to accept the abuse as justifiable in any way, but to not allow her to own/hold my heart anymore." Keith's live is better now. "My wife and I celebrate 30 years of marriage in four months, no children. I published a memoir / novella after getting my MFA entitled 'Missing the Mark', which spoke to my abuse. At the encouragement of readers who 'wanted more,' just last month Adelaide Books in New York published a novel-length memoir of my story: 'The Day the Sky Broke Open.'"