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Genres:
Podcast Episode
Home at the Edge
Nonfiction
In the tumultuous backdrop of the 1969 Chicago Haymarket riot, Ron, a spirited seventeen-year-old, finds himself ensnared in the complexities of Cook County jail. As he navigates this new world, he forms an unexpected bond with Pete Fischetti, the prodigious son of a renowned Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist. Their shared experiences and discussions echo the sentiments of a generation yearning for change.
Upon his release, courtesy of his father's intervention, Ron's journey takes a detour through a mental institution. Here, amidst the backdrop of societal expectations, he encounters fellow "hippie-freaks" grappling with their identities. As they resist a program designed to mold them into societal norms, Ron's heartstrings are tugged by the enigmatic Marge, a love that remains tantalizingly out of reach.
A serendipitous discovery of the graves from the original Haymarket riot offers Ron and Pete a profound connection to the past, bridging generations of revolutionaries. But life outside isn't any simpler. Amidst love affairs thwarted by institutional powers, a chilling encounter with a Satanist lover, and the haunting specter of friends lost to their inner demons, Ron's resilience is tested.
With the weight of lost loves and the looming draft, Ron's spirit remains unbroken. His adventures, from selling underground paraphernalia to confronting the harsh realities of a society in flux, paint a vivid portrait of a young man's journey in a transformative era. As he grapples with love, loss, and the pull of revolution, readers aged 40 and older will find themselves transported back to a time of societal upheaval, resonating with the challenges and aspirations of their youth. This is but the beginning of Ron's odyssey, with more tales of revolution to come in subsequent volumes.

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Ronald Schulz
Born in Chicago, Ronald grew up in the suburbs. At fifteen he ran away to New Orleans, where he lived on Skid Row until betrayed by a priest. As a disaffected seventeen-year-old high school dropout in 1969, Ronald took LSD while hitchhiking into the western American counterculture. He also became involved in radical movements in New York and Chicago, including the SDS Days of Rage. Arrested and subjected to several months in a mental hospital, he made the most of it, later joining a Wisconsin commune, which remained his home throughout the 1970s. In 1975 he hitchhiked across North Africa and the Middle East, spent time on a kibbutz, and worked at a copper mine in Israel’s Negev desert. Then on to India and Nepal, where he spent nine months studying Buddhism under Lama Yeshe. His life has been full of adventure, travel, and different jobs, including teaching English classes in Tokyo, construction work in Los Angeles, and mining in South Dakota and Colorado. Ronald has a BA in political science from the University of Washington, as well as certificates in memoir writing and teaching English as a second language. He has been to every continent and lives in Seattle, writing a series of honest memoirs: Chicago Rage, Home at the Edge, Spirit Quest 1969, and Party at the Edge of the Rainbow. Teenage Runaway is coming out soon, with more to follow.
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