Doc: The Rape of the Town of Lovell
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- Synopsis
- Deep in the heart of Mormon country, Lovell, Wyoming, is a small town populated by decent, God-fearing people who abide by the most rigorous strictures of pure, clean living. The sacred institutions are church and family, the guiding light one's faith in God. Yet from the opening pages of "Doc" it is clear that something has gone terribly awry in Lovell. The trusted family doctor--the man who birthed the town's babies, cared for husbands, wives, and children, counseled and befriended the townspeople--was also raping his patients. Dr. John Story assaulted dozens of women, ranging in age from thirteen to seventy, over a period of twenty-five years. Brutally violating the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship, Dr. Story raped, molested, or sexually humiliated the women who most relied upon him. Mormons for the most part, many of the women were sexually ignorant until their wedding night, when they discovered what their doctor had been doing to them on the examining table. What is fascinating about "Doc" is not simply the terrible crimes but that no one spoke out against Story for years. The women's silence was based on disbelief, guilt, shame, and fear. They chastised themselves, thinking they had somehow "encouraged" the doctor, or imagined what they had felt or seen. They did not tell their husbands for fear they would kill Story, they did not tell their friends out of embarrassment. It took twenty-five years, with only a few whispers and hints of wrongdoing in the intervening time, before a small group of courageous, distressed women fought their town and the establishment to bring Dr. Story to justice. A veteran master of true crime, Jack Olsen moves in a new direction with "Doc." This is not solely the tale of a sociopath, like those whose complex, twisted minds Olsen has probed in such classics as "Son" and Cold Kill. It is the tale of women who are victims as well as heroes, of one man's violation of an entire town. Including the religious and social mores of Lovell in his scope, Olsen gently prods at communal secrets to unearth Dr. Story's legacy of pain and anger. Compassionate and sensitive, "Doc" is a tribute to a reporter of exceptional skill and humanity.
- Copyright:
- 1989
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Excellent
- Book Size:
- 481 Pages
- ISBN-13:
- 9780689119590
- Publisher:
- Atheneum
- Date of Addition:
- 01/27/16
- Copyrighted By:
- Jack Olsen
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- Nonfiction, Religion and Spirituality, Social Studies, Medicine
- Submitted By:
- Marilyn
- Proofread By:
- Gail Johnson
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.
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- by Jack Olsen
- in Nonfiction
- in Religion and Spirituality
- in Social Studies
- in Medicine