Each Day I Like It Better: Autism, ECT, and the Treatment of Our Most Impaired Children

Events half a world away can unexpectedly disrupt life anywhere. On a serene Kent State campus, Richard Ames and Randy Baldwin are oblivious that trouble brewing in Vietnam is ready to alter their lives. These freshmen are obsessed with adjusting to college life; its challenges, traditions and finding their place in its social structure.

Escaping an impoverished childhood, Richard must maintain a scholarship or go home. Strong in morals and character, he copes with a roommate who smokes, drinks and is obsessed with getting coeds between the sheets. He battles sleep deprivation caused by the rigors of his studies. Patriotic, he amuses himself arguing with a good friend, Dave Manning, an early member of the Kent Committee to End the War in Vietnam.

Focused on becoming a big man on campus, Randy will cheat and harm others in his quest. Masking his actions, others consider him sincere, but the table is turned when his conduct devastates his one-time friend, Richard. Quick to seek revenge, Richard knows something about Randy with the potential to ruin him. Meanwhile, sneaking up on everyone is change.

With escalation in Vietnam and fear of the draft, campus chaos boils. Protests and counter-protests invade the campus. Life altering circumstances redirect lives. Dave has two chooses: flee to Canada or face the military draft. Randy embraces leadership in the radical left-wing Students for a Democratic Society. He and his cohorts plan for months to cripple the university; they wait for the right moment. Inducted into the army, Richard deploys to Vietnam. Participating in the invasion of Cambodia, he asks God to let him live. His tour in Nam is over following the mission. President Nixon announces the invasion, and Randy is elated with the news. Kent is a powder keg waiting to blow, and the invasion is the spark that lights the fuse. Spurred by news of Cambodia, time to act is at hand, and Randy is entangled in four days of havoc, ending on Blanket Hill as National Guardsmen fire into protesters.

THE BLANKET HILL INSURGENCY is a tragedy, but the bigger story is the radical change encompassing the lives of a generation. It's a story of conflict with authority, loss of patriotism and personal involvement in actions altering America's culture.