My overview

Overview

A Life Gone Awry

A soliloquy of Love and Hate

By Wayne Kernochan


A Life Gone Awry is the story of my two and a half year stay at Elan School, a therapeutic community for emotionally disturbed adolescents, which has been in the media spotlight for abuse for over twenty years.

When Michael Skakel was indicted for the murder of his next door neighbor Martha Moxley in 2000, and residents from his house told the stories of Élan’s abuse on TV, once again, they ignored us kids at the bottom of the hill. Mike’s house was full of rich kids, and their families cared about what happened to them, so they had it easy compared to Elan Seven. We were the worst of the worst, and no one cared what happened to us. The abuses that happened there are referred to as, “Lies,” made up to sell a book. The truth about Elan is that the most outrageous stories are the ones that are true. It was an asylum run by the inmates.

At Elan School, football was a metaphor for life, without parole. As Mike was being tried for the murder of Martha Moxley, our other star running back, Wayne Weaver, was being tried for murder across town. Our halfback was Robert Gamble, who killed a man for being gay. His co defendant was Larry Rhodes, one of our defensive linemen. The coach’s pet was Pat Carlson, who raped and murdered an eight year old boy. Elan has stories to tell, and I’m one of the few left to tell them. This is a good book.

The heart of the story is provided by my director, Danny Bennison, who forced three students to say that they had sex with Wayne Weaver. Those three were Jane Tolar, Cathy Collins, and Willie Garcia. Elan made people admit to things that weren’t true all the time, but Willie was an offense that allowed me to get all three to admit that they lied a year later, as I spent the summer playing football with Wayne and Mike.

Danny didn’t like that the women in the house loved Wayne, and hated him, so he threatened and intimidated Willie into it to humiliate Wayne. Everyone knew, so when Danny was gone, we talked openly about the corrupt days, and false confessions.

Thirty years later Danny Bennison is trolling Elan survivor sites on the internet, and has threatened me for telling the truth about him. The internet has drawn the attention of Elan survivors, so now there are people that will support my allegations.

I had never done drugs, and had never been arrested, but I was put in with the worst of the worst. Doctor M. Scott Peck told my parents that Elan was the place to send me. I thought I was going to a private school. It’s a good story.

When Joe Ricci died I was relieved. I wasn’t the only one. All these years later, his death gives people comfort. In A Life Gone Awry the reader will understand why. Michael Skakel and his friends were the face of the students of Elan. They were the ones shown on TV. We were the ones they buried under the prison. This is our story.

___________________________________________________

So, whatta ya think?