Paul J Venard

The Land of Bon Paul J Venard

The youngest of six children writes about experiencing basically ages six to seventeen, growing up in Bonners Ferry, ("The Land of Bon"), in Idaho, after his father plucked up the family from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to escape the "rate race" of city life. After beginning with a somewhat mysterious prologue about a phone session with someone named Elias, taking place in 2004, the story starts in 1959. From 1st grade to 12th grade the tale is told in a manner that seeks to capture the wonder and the trauma of finding new friends and growing up in beautiful northern Idaho, in the explosive 1960's of JFK, Nixon, LBJ, Vietnam, the moon landing, Martin Luther King, Jr., and "The British Invasion" including The Beatles and many others. The book is autobiographical in nature, but is allowed to drift away from strict adherence to that at times, in order to look into the exploration of other characters and situations--like a big brother turning into a small town hippie. The author's primary intent being to have fun, the impossible goal of absolute accuracy is allowed to give way to a bit of imagination and intuition, here and there, as the many tales unfold, in an explosive decade that included the rise and the fall of many, both afar and right at home--in The Land of Bon.