Author Ken Lori has written a book of fiction depicting an American teenager at odds with himself and the nation. The book addresses the clash between high capitalism and extreme liberalism in America, and its effects on youth. Ken is traveling the country to challenge America to change its priorities.
Portland, OR (PRWEB) May 31, 2005 -- The March 23rd school massacre in Minnesota punctuated yet another dark year of school violence in America which included a fifteen-year-old boy in Indiana who, after attacking his peers with a machete, intoned a rationale eerily familiar: that he wished to "rid the world of evil."
This week author Ken Lori releases most pieces are scattered: Reflections of a High School Shooter (fiction) in which Adam Cozgood reflects on his teenage years and all that leads him to carry out an unthinkable act that is all too thinkable in the United States: a school shooting. In the hero/anti-hero's words are revealed the social, spiritual and cultural influences that lead him to do unspeakable damage to his peers, his school, his God, his country and himself. The story is experimental in its characterization of the modern-day angry young man whose struggle for identity and tendency to violence reflects the very culture he's driven to destroy.
Lori believes there is a parallel between the U.S. government's "bullying" conduct in the Middle East and the bullying that takes place in schools. "To stop the war in Iraq," Lori says, "the ceasefire must begin at home."
With over ten years of experience working with youth, Lori is traveling America to open up discussion on the topic of teen-angst and violence in middle and upper class America. "After all," he says, "the setting for a great bulk of school shootings is suburban American, home of society's chief priests. The shooters are oftentimes the sons and daughters of the wealthy, the ones in control of America, and therefore much of the world. My motto is 'to change the world, change America. To change America, change an American' or the demise of the planet shall continue." Since 1979 over fifty school shootings have resulted in death. In 2004, 88 students per week were caught with a gun at school.
About Ken Lori
Canadian born and raised, Ken Lori has worked with youth in the U.S. and Canada as a self-esteem facilitator, youth group leader, case manager for at-risk youth, director of an after school program, and manager of an employment program. Ken speaks regularly on the ills of American culture that are turning children into killers. Ken has worked or volunteered in Oakland, San Francisco, Orlando and Detroit. He is starting his national tour in Portland, Oregon.
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