Synopses & Reviews
What a father will do to fight the mental illness that has destroyed his son.What does a father do when hope is gone that his only son can ever lead anything close to a normal” life? Thats the question that came to Dick Russell in the fall of 2011, when his son, Franklin, was thirty-two. At the age of seventeen, Franklin had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. He spent a lot of time in various hospitals, and even went through periods of adamantly denying that Dick was actually his father.
Franklin was handsome, intelligent, and sensitive until his mental illness took control. Spending most of his life trying to build some semblance of a normal father-son relationship, Dick was invited with his son, out of the blue, to a wildlife migration on the Serengeti Plain. Seeing this as a chance to repair the damage that both had struggled with, the two-week trip to Tanzania changed both of their lives.
With an African backdrop, My Mysterious Son tells through the relationship between Dick and Franklin what a father will do to find his son, who he knows is there under the mask of schizophrenia. For those who understand the pain of mental illness as well as those who understand the relationship between a parent and a child, My Mysterious Son shares the intimate and beautiful story of a father who will do everything in his power to repair his relationship with his son, destroyed by mental illness.
About the Author
Dick Russell has written for such varied publications as Time, Sports Illustrated, and the Village Voice. His books include The Man Who Knew Too Much, Black Genius, and On the Trail of the JFK Assassins, as well as the New York Times bestsellers American Conspiracies, 63 Documents the Government Doesnt Want You to Read, and They Killed Our President (all three with Jesse Ventura).