John Erickson interview

AUTHOR INTERVIEW


When did your love of books begin?

Like a lot of boys in the 1960s, I got hooked on the Hardy Boys: Frank and Joe and their cast of friends. The books were for boys 10 to 14, but I had read them all by the time I reached 10. In high school I read The Godfather, which was a huge book back then, but it wasn’t until college that I saw how reading can truly enrich your life.


When did you start to have the wish to become an author?

I became an author at a late age. I’m 66. But I’ve always wanted to write books. I became a journalism major in college (at the University of Minnesota) because I liked to write and couldn’t really think of any other profession that would allow me to do that.


How have you found the process for becoming an author?

I’m a noodle-er. I have to work and rework my writing, and it almost never ends. I like to get my thoughts down on paper and then massage it.


What would you say to those wanting to become an author?

Be willing to fail. It’s a tough business and a lot of good books never make it. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and don’t take the rejections personally. It’s part of the business.


Tell us about your book/books:

My first book (I say that because I’m hoping there is a second) is called When Mortals Play God. It started as a search for my uncle, who was adopted at the age of three and no one frrom the family ever saw him again. In the process of that search, I discovered the horrendous treatment my grandmother received as an alleged "feebleminded" person in the 1920s. She was institutionalized and sterilized because she was seen as a menace to society. Many in Minnesota bought the bogus science on which eugenics was based, and a lot of people suffered, including my grandmother and many other people in our family. I tried to show that eugenics bred many victims, but that survivors emerged and turned the practice on its head. One of those survivors was my mother, who is approaching her 101th birthday, a milestone believed unattainable by those who thought so-called feebleminded women could produce only defective offspring. Here is the Amazon link to the book, by the way: https://www.amazon.com/When-Mortals-Play-God-Perseverance/dp/1538166690/ref=sr_1_1?crid=X3MJ88OULCWO&keywords=When+Mortals+Play+God&qid=1649875157&sprefix=when+mortals+play+god%2Caps%2C593&sr=8-1



If you could say anything to your readers what would it be?

The history behind eugenics isn’t well known, and not many people know just how widespread it was. More than 30 states adopted eugenic sterilization laws. It’s important we remember what happened – these people thought they were improving society – so that we don’t succumb to such snake oil in the future.


Where can people connect with you?

Email: Jserickson58@gmail.com

Twitter: @Johnerickson58

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.erickson.1466


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