Let
me take you back to the 1950s on the North side of
Chicago. 2 childhood friends. They were Boy Scouts
together, sang Christmas Carols together, played
practical jokes on neighbors, basically did everything
together. What if your friend grew to become one of
America’s most gruesome serial killers by the name of
John Wayne Gacy? What if you almost became victim #34?
Well our next guest was this other childhood friend.
Author Barry Boschelli joins us today to talk about his
book, “JOHNNY AND ME: THE TRUE STORY OF JOHN WAYNE
GACY”.
Johnny and
Me is a true story about my childhood experiences
growing up in the northwest side of Chicago with John
Wayne Gacy. This story details the everyday life
experiences in my and Johnny's homes. Details of our
families are in the book along with the understanding of
each of our parents as they raised us in the 1940's and
1950's. Many of these stories included are of my
personal life before Johnny came on the scene in order
to let the reader understand my point of view as my life
unfolded. I have tried to show you the Johnny that I
remember as a childhood friend and I hope that I have
been as accurate as I can be on this subject. Various
moments of joy, anger, and fear are shared between the
two of us as we tried to have a normal childhood in the
midst of anxiety and confusion that was brought on by
our father's abuse of alcohol and demanding
personalities. The story portrays how our environments
molded our characters and helped us to make choices in
our adult lives. Details regarding our reactions to
everyday events supply hints of how Johnny and I would
function in our separate social worlds as we matured.
Johnny's possessive nature is described as we went
playing normal childhood games and making new friends.
His religious experiences are mentioned and a complete
description of his controlling personality is shared as
one of Johnny's ways to cope with his surroundings.
Other details of Johnny's life are revealed such as his
early desire to be in the spotlight of social applause.
The book concludes with my personal emotions about a
friend whose life went the wrong way. His childhood,
along with my own, could have been different.
