Table of Contents
Praise forAutobiography of a Recovering Skinhead
FRANK MEEINKS STORY is inspiring, compelling and moving. It has the power to change lives. We should all be grateful to him for sharing it.
Morris Dees, Founder and Chief Trial Counsel, Southern Poverty Law Center
FRANK MEEINKS BOOK is a candid and captivating story of upbeat transformation of a raw racist into a courageous citizen, which has much to teach all of us. Dont miss it!
Dr. Cornel West, author ofDemocracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism
AS A WHITE MAN, trying to stand in solidarity with folks of color in the struggle against racism, I am heartened by Frank Meeinks story. His narrative confirms that we as white folks have a choice when it comes to how we wish to live in this skin. We can remain silent, or even collaborate with the subordination of peoples of color, or we can become allies in the fight for justice. Meeink has made his choice. May we all have the courage and fortitude to do the same. Nothing less than the fate of our nation depends on it.
Tim Wise, author ofWhite Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son
FRANK MEEINKS STORY is so brutal, so visceral, so unflinching, and in the end, so soul-wrenchingly, specifically American, that it should from this moment on be required reading for anyone who wants to understand the origin of race hatred in these United States of America. Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead stands out as more than a great memoir. It is testament to a great heart, to a man willing to own up to his own violent past and, ultimately, shine a light of hope on this sick, pigment-fixated, demented nation we inhabit. The writing is phenomenal and Meeinks tale will keep you riveted. In the end, like all true testaments, what the author has to offer is hard-earned, down-to-the-bone hope. I loved this book.
Jerry Stahl, author ofPain KillersandPermanent Midnight
I WAS UNABLE to put this book down. Franks story pulled me in to the point I felt I was living it with him, like I was skating alongside him as he overcame the odds and changed his life, and along the way, proved how hockey and other sports can change other kids lives, too.
Bobby Ryan, Anaheim Ducks, National Hockey League
FRANKS TRANSFORMATION PROVIDES us commanding proof that reconciliation is possible even for those most tightly bound by hatred.
Jesse Dylan, Director of the Obama campaignsYes We Canvideo and the documentaryReconciliation
POWERFUL, ABSORBING, STUNNING and sobering, this book is an unvarnished, revealing, sad, and painful portrayal of a struggle that continues, and of a tortured but hopeful soul striving to do good.
Barry Morrison, Regional Director, Anti-Defamation League
FRANK MEEINKS LIFE story is a window into a world where hatred works like a drug. It is a compelling and cautionary tale.
Kenneth Stern, Director on Anti-Semitism and Extremism, American Jewish Committee
For Riley, Jake, Matt, Smooth D., Little Nick, and Fargosrena.
May you always, only, know love.
Acknowledgements
FRANK MEEINK AND JODY ROY WOULD LIKE TO THANK the following individuals and organizations for their contributions to Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead:
For introducing them to each other, Quay Hanna.
For funding to underwrite research costs, Ripon College and the FaCE Phase I grant program of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest.
For research assistance, Matt Birschbach and Tony McClintock.
For feedback on early drafts, Deano, Micah, Jackie C., Stuie, Nancy L., and The Eclectic focus group.
For sharing their memories, Margaret, Big Frankie, Nanny, Pop, the Bertones, John, Kirsten, Hayley, Louie Lacinzi, Crazy Cha- Cha, Jeremy, Clark, Jessica, Maria, Nina, Valerie and her family, Barry Morrison, Michael Boni, Bob, Aunt Joan, the former coach of the Eddie OMalley team, Squints, Vicey, Earbow, and other boys from the corners of Second and Porter, Third and Jackson, and 68th and Buist; current and former employees of the Philadelphia Public Schools, the Catherine Hamilton Center, the Indianapolis Fire Department, the Terre Haute Police Department, the Springfield Police Department, Sangamon County Jail, the Sangamon County Public Defenders Office, the Sangamon County States Attorneys Office, the Illinois Department of Corrections, and the University of Illinois Springfield (formerly Sangamon State University) Telecommunications Department. To those and many others who took the time to sit for interviews, thank you!
For turning Franks vision of Harmony Through Hockey into reality, The Philadelphia Flyers, The Anti-Defamation League, and the City of Philadelphia. For helping establish the program in the Midwest, Global Spectrum, Schlegel Sports, the Iowa Stars, and the Iowa Chops.
For supporting Frank throughout this process, everyone at F&G and the White House.
For their patience, understanding and assistance during the years Jody devoted to this project, everyone at Ripon College, especially Jerry, Claudia, Vida, Jean, Tammy, Ric, Cody, and the students and faculty of the Department of Communication. Special thanks to Shawn K. for his unwavering emotional support and for being on the stairs when the call came.
For believing Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead can make a difference, Rhonda Hughes, Kate Sage, and the team at Hawthorne Books.
For being the perfect editor for this book, Adam OConnor Rodriguez.
For uttering not one word of complaint when Jody moved yet another book and, at times, Frankie himself, into the house, Pookie.
For accepting Jody as her other husband, and for loving and believing in Frankie even through the worst of times, Valerie.
Finally, Frank would like to thank Jody for transforming his story into a book, Jody would like to thank Frank for entrusting her with the privilege, and they both would like to thank the Higher Power for everything.
NOTE: In the interest of privacy, names and identifying characteristics of some individuals and groups have been altered in this book.
Introduction
Elizabeth Wurtzel
THIS IS THE TRUTH: I READ AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A RECOVERING Skinhead with my mouth either actually or metaphorically agape, because I just could not believe anyone could be this much of an idiot and live to tell the story so clearly and cleanly. I dont know what the worst of it is: the racism, the anti- Semitism, the sexism, the alcoholism, the addiction, the depression, the abuse, the violence, the homicide, the suicide or just the way all these maladies coexist. Frank Meeinks story is upsetting and crazy, but it is above all a strangely absurdist drama that forces us to ask a troubling question about American life: Why, in a land with so much opportunity, is a critical mass of young people choosing hatred over possibility?
Frank Meeink speaks for those people, the ones you dont know and dont want to know, the ones who walk around with the creepy feeling they were born to lose. The only thing these people have to hang onto is their taste for blood, their desire to kill. When President Obama, at a campaign fundraising dinner in San Francisco, made the error of referring to those folks in Pennsylvania who cling to their guns and religion because its all theyve got, he wasnt wrong: meet Frank Meeink he bashes in skulls for kicks. At the books turning point, Frank finds himself doing time in the same Illinois state prison as John Wayne Gacy and suddenly realizes: this is no mistake he is exactly where he belongs, with the worst of the worst.
