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  Constant Reminder

By Joseph Baca
Wordclay
October 6, 2011

http://www.wordclay.com/BookStore/BookStoreBookDetails.aspx?bookid=68396

Author: Joseph Baca

Published: 10/6/2011 5:05:18 PM

Pages: 144

Keywords: 1960's Winslow, adult nonfiction, Arizona priest sex abuse, biography, Father Clement Hageman, Fathe...

Audience Level: Mature

Genres: Biography & Autobiography / General

About the Book

Constant Reminder is the turbulent biography of Joseph Baca. It starts at the age of eight when the sense of an innocent child's world is crushed forever by Father Clement Hageman - priest, predator and pedophile. But this memoir is more than the recounting of memories and facts from his childhood. It shows, front and center, the bias for a Hispanic boy, growing up in the 1960's and 1970's southwest. The times also reflect on an all-powerful, Roman Catholic Church, its subtle climate of fear, cloaked in secrecy and protective of its reputation. Tag along with Baca on his downward spiral of juvenile delinquency, alcoholism and drug addiction. Feeling powerless, he decided to embrace the grim reaper - twice - and survived. However, you'll cheer when - step by step - he endures and overcomes every adversity to lead a better life. This is a biography, yet the ending is overshadowed with the presence of an ominous evil which would rival many fictional novels.

About the Author

Joseph Baca is a native of Winslow, Arizona and attended Catholic and public schools in the area. In his late teens, he moved to California and pursued the career of conductor with a major railroad transportation company. Baca is retired and resides in Maricopa, Arizona with his wife and grandchildren.

Free Preview (excerpt)

The monster who proclaimed himself, a man of God, plotted to gain my trust around age eight. By nine, he had started to unleash his vile sexual attacks. I lived in fear of the next time, Priest Clement Hageman, cornered me in an empty room. On Sundays, disgust consumed me, as my family and I sat in church, listening to his empty sermons about pursuing a moral life.

At fourteen, I exhibited a pattern of aggressive behavior and no longer fit the priest's view of a passive compliant victim. Liquor fueled my anger and drove me on a course of poor choices. Hanging out with wayward friends and falling into trouble with police set me on a path to absolute dysfunction.

Waiting for the right time, alone and without hope, I rummaged through my parent's prescription medicines, looking for something that would end the agony. I found dad's pain pills, shook the contents into the palm of my hand and swallowed them, eagerly.

 
 

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