The Messiah of Morris Avenue by Tony Hendra

[evlbstrd]

http://www.henryholt.com/messiahofmorrisavenue/index.htm
An excerpt:

The prison's full name is The Risen Lamb Correctional Facility. Its directors call it a Christian prison, one that respects the retributive power of Church and State: the right of the judiciary to exact punishment, the right of the Lord to vengeance. The men and women incarcerated here aren't "inmates" or "prisoners" but "sinners." Those convicted of capital crimes are called "cardinal sinners." But the God of vengeance is also the God of forgiveness. This prison differs from all others in the fervent efforts that are made to help cardinal sinners repent before they're terminated; to be born again before they die.

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Be sure to listen to the Godcasts and The End-Timelines.
http://www.henryholt.com/messiahofmorrisavenue/godpodcast.htm

[OldLeftieLawyer]

1. Oh, the smug and sanctimonious Tony Hendra

Isn't he special? Him and his marvelous relationship with his religious mentor? What a swell guy Tony Hendra is, spiritually precise and pure.

Yeah. Right. I wouldn't read anything by this fucker if it were the only written item available in my prison.

Read his daughter, Jessica Hendra's, compelling autobiography about him as a father, about his sexual abuse of her, about his hateful treatment of her and her mother. Read about the Tony Hendra he'd like to pretend never existed.

It's called "How To Cook Your Daughter," by Jessica Hendra. A remarkable book of a type I don't often read, but this one was well-written and heartbreaking.

Tony Hendra, child molester.

[SharonAnn]

2. What I don't understand is why people like that don't hide in shame.

So many of the Religiosity Right, Right-Wing, or GOP types have been indicted, arrested, written about for heinous things and they don't just "go away and hide".

They just keep pontificating, publishing, punditing, etc. as if they never were found out. And the sheeple seem to forget about what they've done.

JOhn fund comes to mind. Bill Bennett comes to mind. The various Reverends also come to mind.

[Gabi Hayes]

4. Hendra's NOT right wing.

I just got the book from the library, but can't find it now. The one review I've read was less than kind.

he wrote an interesting book years back, about humor (Saturday Night Live/early NatLamp style--he was one of the creators of the latter, IIRC)

didn't know about the child molesting, either.

very very bad, if true, obviously

[OldLeftieLawyer]

5. Did I call him "rightwing"?

If so, I erred. My read on him is that he's mostly a monarchist (he's a Brit), and a monster.

No, what I objected to, and that might be how you read "rightwing" into it, is his ongoing embrace of and cheerleading for the specious and false relationship he has with his Creator, thanks so much to some religious mentor who obviously had no trouble overlooking Hendra's propensity for raping his young daughter for years.

Confession. Absolution. Penance.

Ain't they great?

The book's very good. Reviewers, don't forget (this published author always has to say this), are the guys who can't write the books, only the reviews.

Library. Pfffffft. Cheapo.

heh heh heh

[Gabi Hayes]

6. hey! easy now...I was responding to the poster to which I was responding!

I inferred that she inferred the rightwingedness from her mention of god stuff

that is all

aaaand...it's gas or books, yer honor

if I likes em enough, I buys em after the freebee

send me one of your novels, and I'll send you some money if I like it! otherwise, can we consider it a 'loaner?'

[OldLeftieLawyer]

7. Sorry

I didn't realize you weren't responding to me. Sloppy of me.

Yeah, gas or books. I know. I was just yankin' ya, though. Authors routinely groan at the idea of libraries, except in the UK and Australia, where we get royalties every time one of our books is checked out.

You don't want to read my books. I got this thing for sex in cemeteries and bodysnatchings, and I'm just sort of blocked right now. Thank god for COINTELPRO and the Black Panthers - my latest project.

[Gabi Hayes]

8. haaaa. if you only knew....I have lots of ideas.

I just can't expand on em well at all. if I could, I'd be a.....writer!

the panthers/cointelpro sounds intriguing, though. how about a resurrected Fred Hampton going after Thomas Charles Huston?

now THERE's a 'plan'

[OldLeftieLawyer]

9. How about the true story

behind a Fourth Amendment case that still stands - more than thirty years later - as controlling law because of a copkilling in which the defendant - a BP - was framed and sent to prison for life where he still languishes? And - this is the really fun part - the Vatican was in cahoots with the FBI.

Cute, huh?

I was there. And I'm still doing the best I can. I'm the only one who's still alive, save for Dan Berrigan, who's failing far too rapidly.

[evlbstrd]

3. I didn't know about any of those things.

What I read on the site was funny. I'll look for his daughter's book.