Kent State

By John Ballard

My enduring memory of this event is that before the end of the year James Michener had cobbled together a book, Kent State, What Happened and Why. In my mind Michener was the dean of American contemporary writers. His mammoth history of Hawaii, made into one of the great movies of the era, was an impressive piece of work. I eagerly bought a copy of the new book in hopes of capturing a snapshot of history. I was so disgusted by his take on the events of that day that I tossed the book and decided not to bother catching up on any of the rest of Michener I may have missed. He was peddling the same kind of garbage about sinister outside forces manipulating our young people that I had already heard during the civil rights movement. Outside agitators, you know. Like when outside agitators stirred up the Negroes. Bullshit. I guess he needed the money. Forty years later and it still makes me angry to think about it. Sorry I can't be more dispassionate.