Literary School Shooter’s Female Fan Club: Endgame

This next post on the topic of female fan clubs of school shooters in literature comes courtesy of “Endgame” by the late Nancy Garden. Before I launch into the post, I’d like to share an amusing happening. Quite a few years ago, I emailed Nancy and Jodi Picoult with the suggestion of a joint writing adventure where the mothers of the school shooters in our stories go on a talk show together. Both writers politely declined but Nancy said that maybe I should pursue it on my own, creating my own characters of course, while Jodi agreed that those Moms needed a support group. At least they took the time to respond, which I thought was nice.

R.I.P Nancy Garden

In the novel, “Endgame,” we have Gray Wilton, who moves to a new town in Connecticut. His family thought they had to move after Gray got into trouble when he pulled a knife on a bully. He hopes that things will be different but a few weeks at the new school, he finds himself the target of top bully and school football star, Zorro. Throughout the story, Zorro bullies Gray in some rather horrific ways. Forcing him to drink paint and destroying Gray’s drum kit. The final straw is when Zorro and his cohorts try to get Gray to perform a sex act on his friend. The result is Gray going into school with a gun and shooting four people dead, including Zorro and wounding three others. While the story focuses on Gray telling his story to his lawyer but in the end, it’s to no avail as Gray is sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Of the literary shooters I have covered so far, Gray might have the largest female following. A lot of young ladies, especially bullied ones would sympathize with Gray and would probably fall in love with him. Since the name of his school was Greenford High School, there might even be a group calling themselves the “Greenford Girls.” Another factor is that unlike Mark and Peter, Gray is still alive and might even respond to all of his fan mail. After all, with this much attention, he definitely wouldn’t see himself as a loser.

When I emailed Nancy about my joint writing offer, I also suggested she could write a sequel to “Endgame.” In the sequel, Gray’s family and his lawyer start a campaign to have his sentence reduced. This is especially poignant in modern times as courts are moving away from sentencing juveniles to life without parole. His female followers would be definitely supporting such a move as some would love the idea of their hero getting out of prison and settling down with them. There would be petitions by the Greenford Girls to the Connecticut’s State Supreme Court, the governor and eventually to the US Supreme Court as well as congressmen and senators. These ladies could be responsible for Gray seeing the light of day one day. If so, it would be the female fan club Gray would need to thank.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Was-Weird-Publisher-Generation-Publishing/dp/B00SLVHRFG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36I8I1G32U0R4&dchild=1&keywords=he+was+weird&qid=1624901543&s=books&sprefix=he+was+%2Cstripbooks%2C148&sr=1-1

Song Lyrics Quote: Iron Maiden- Holy Smoke

They choose what they wanna hear, don’t tell a lie

They just leave out the truth as they’re watching you die

They’re saving your souls by taking your money

Flies around shit, bees around honey

Holy smoke, holy smoke

Plenty bad preachers for the devil to stoke

Feed’em in feet first, this is no joke

This is thirsty work making holy smoke.

Literary School Shooters’ Female Fan Club: Nineteen Minutes

Keeping on the subject of literary school shooters’ female fan clubs, I now move on to “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult. In Jodi’s novel, the shooter was named Peter Houghton, who was bullied from his first day of Kindergarten when bullies threw his lunch box out of the school bus window. The bullying only got worse from that point and climaxed when he was tricked into believing that he girl he liked liked him and while declaring his undying love for the girl, had his trousers pulled down in front of everyone. That was what led him to go into school with two pistols and kill ten people and wound eight more. At his trial, Peter’s lawyer unsuccessfully tries to use the battered wife defense and as a result, Peter is sentenced to life in prison without parole. One month after he begins his sentence, Peter commits suicide in prison.

So, the obvious question is: Would Peter have any kind of female following like the ‘Columbiners?’ There is evidence in the story itself to indicate that he would, even after his death. While awaiting trial, he gets a letter from a girl he had shot, who moved to another state after the shooting. First, she says that Peter deserved to go to jail for his actions but at the end of the letter, she points out that she could have been his friend because she found him rather mysterious. Another piece of evidence comes during the trial where there is a support group of former bullying victims who hold up signs in support of Peter. Those two accounts are enough to persuade me that there would have been an online group of girls who would have been online girlfriends of Peter Houghton. They would have most likely called themselves, ‘Sterlingers,’ after Sterling High School, which Peter attended. Then again, they might have called themselves ‘Peter’s Princesses.’ Who knows?

It’s my third post on this subject and I am no further into figuring why people like the Columbine shooters would have such a huge female following. I know some girls like the bad boys, especially in their teens. Peter might have attracted young women for two reasons. One, he would have been seen as a ‘bad boy’ because he actually went and shot up his school, killing many of the alpha males including his chief tormentor. Two, when his bullying became public knowledge, many girls who are themselves victims of bullying would have flocked to him, both out of a mutual understanding of what being bullied is like and the fact that he actually did something about it. Even if it was murder!

While I can only speculate the above on Peter’s behalf, I guess the real person to ask would be Jodi Picoult. I won’t though, I’ve emailed her in the past about other topics related to her book and I don’t want her thinking, “Oh God, not him again.” Still, why do people like Peter, Kevin, Mark from my own novel and Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold attract such a fanatical following of females? I guess I’ll never know but it won’t stop me posting about it.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Was-Weird-Publisher-Generation-Publishing/dp/B00SLVHRFG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36I8I1G32U0R4&dchild=1&keywords=he+was+weird&qid=1624297600&s=books&sprefix=he+was+%2Cstripbooks%2C148&sr=1-1

Song Lyrics Quote: Desperado- See You At Sunrise

You were so sure I wouldn’t see

Take a good look, take a good look, you’re nowhere

See you at sunrise, see you in the morning light

There won’t be any compromise

When I’m blowing you away.

Literary School Shooters Female Fan Clubs: We Need to Talk About Kevin

This is a problem I have with my Asperger’s. Originally, I meant to begin this series three weeks ago. But other topics crept up and as a result, I pushed the ideas back into the recesses of my mind. So now, after writing a post about young women who fall in love with school shooters based on my own novel, “He Was Weird,” I have decided to take it further and explore other books about school shootings, which I have read. For the record, there are at least 51 books which deal with school shootings, including mine. However, I have only read four of them.

For this week, I’ll start with “We Need to Talk About Kevin” by Lionel Shriver. In a very quick synopsis of the story, we find that Kevin is in prison for luring eight pupils and a teacher into a school gym, locking them in and then murdering them with a crossbow. He kills seven of the eight and wounds a caretaker who just happened to be there. The story is told through the eyes of Kevin’s mother who, through letters to her estranged husband, is trying to wrap her head around the whole affair.

FFI: You can read this previous post. https://peacefulrampage.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/what-mark-would-have-thought-about-kevin/

Of all the shooters in the novels I’m going to cover, I think Kevin might have had the biggest female following. After all, he is alive and in prison for his crimes. We all know about women who write to men in prison and fall in love with them. Even the two Columbine shooters had a female following calling themselves “Columbiners.” Therefore, it’s easy to see that Kevin would have had a large following of women writing to Kevin in prison with promises to wait for him until he gets out.

Other factors as to why I think Kevin would have such a huge following is that in the story he is described as having dark Eastern European features, he is considered a handsome boy. Therefore, his looks alone would have attracted many ladies. Additionally, none of the common factors which exist in many other school shootings exist in Kevin’s. He was never bullied, in fact, bullies gave him a wide berth. Then there was the fact that he didn’t use a gun. These factors, in addition to how he carried out his shooting would have enthralled many people, but certainly a lot of ladies. Therefore, there would have been a large internet group of women dedicated to Kevin.

As pondered in a previous post, inspired about a post from blogger, jyvurentropy, I ask the question as to why so many women are attracted to the so-called ‘bad boys.’ Is it the ‘alpha-male’ effect which attracts them? In Kevin’s case, he might certainly have been seen as such.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Was-Weird-Publisher-Generation-Publishing/dp/B00SLVHRFG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36I8I1G32U0R4&dchild=1&keywords=he+was+weird&qid=1623702569&s=books&sprefix=he+was+%2Cstripbooks%2C148&sr=1-1

A Song to Share: Cade Thompson- New Normal

This song, “New Normal,” by Cade Thompson came to my attention a few days ago. It’s an anti- school shooting song and I think it’s quite relevant. Have a listen and feel free to share your thoughts on it.

You Can Overcome

Me with my baby granddaughter, Primrose

Today I turned 60! In some circles, that officially makes me an old man. I should be imparting wisdom to the youth. As a teacher, I sometimes do that. I was thinking which tidbits of wisdom I should share today. However, I don’t feel like a wise old man but I do have lots of life experiences which I can share. In the sixty years I have been around, I have had lots of experiences which others can learn from. The best peace of life experience I can share is that no matter how bad things might seem, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and you can overcome.

Since the original intent of Peaceful Rampage was to promote my book, “He Was Weird,” I will draw on that. The book was based on the three years of bullying hell when I lived in Margate, New Jersey between the ages of ten and thirteen. That was the lowest point of my life. Not only the other children but many teachers thought that I would never amount to anything. That I wouldn’t find love, at least not from a woman. Note: many branded me homosexual and while today, that’s not such a horrible thing, back in the 1970s, it was considered such. Looking back at that time, nearly half a century ago, I can say that I have come along way from there.

While things improved dramatically after I moved out of that town, life wasn’t a Disneyland ride for me. My Asperger’s/DAMP always seemed to be a stumbling block in my life. Whether it was school, the service, or life in general, I was often seen as too quiet, introverted, weird, stupid, even if there was evidence to the contrary. It seemed that I spent the first half of my life proving everyone wrong. The thing is that often times I did prove people wrong, although most weren’t willing to admit it.

Today I can look back at my life and be proud of what I’ve accomplished. I have been married twice, the current marriage has lasted 16 years now and I have three children who have made me proud. Both of my daughters in law have born be gorgeous grandchildren and a third one is coming in August. I also have seven stepchildren and nineteen step grandchildren! In my career, I am a qualified teacher but have a great job working with adults with autism. My own experiences has helped me to see things from their point of view and that has helped me get on well in the job. I have written two books, “He Was Weird,” you already know about but my first book was called “Rock and Roll Children” and I am currently working on a third. At sixty, I still enjoy good health. Although I have seen my abilities to play softball evaporating into the atmosphere, I can still play a little. When I do retire I will take up umpiring. Then it will be two sports I officiate because I still officiate American Football.

So, the wisdom I can impart is that no matter how bad things are, whether it be bullying or something else, you can overcome. You can prove the naysayers wrong and achieve whatever you want to. Go for it!

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Was-Weird-Publisher-Generation-Publishing/dp/B00SLVHRFG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36I8I1G32U0R4&dchild=1&keywords=he+was+weird&qid=1623094841&s=books&sprefix=he+was+%2Cstripbooks%2C148&sr=1-1

Song Lyrics Quote: Savatage- This is the Time

This it the time and this is the place

And these are the signs that we must embrace

The moment is now, in all history

The time has arrived and this is the one place to be.