TURNING ANGER INTO ART
By Peter Vuono
Not long ago, a 17 year old from Pontiac Michigan gunned down 4 of his classmates and was sentenced to life in prison. What made this case unprecedented was the fact that both of the youth's parents were given 10-15 year prison terms for involuntary manslaughter. The court stated that there were multiple warnings that the boy would turn to violence and that his parents had ample opportunity to stop it.
Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, New York businessman Allen Kay coined a phrase that many now use-"If you see something, say something." Even the late congressman, Elijah Cummings used the phrase. I have no doubt, that those reading this would certainly be proactive about a potentially dangerous situation and alert the proper authorities whether it be by a stranger, friend or relative. However, this still leaves one with the question as to what one should do to keep a good kid on the strait and narrow path to peace and happiness. One theory is to ascertain what the youngster's passion is and encourage him or her to pursue it. In this way, a potentially dangerous thought or idea can be diverted into something good. Here are two exceptional examples of this with two individuals separated by nearly 150 years They could have chosen to be destructive but chose instead to channel their anger in another more positive way.
Edgar Poe was born in Boston in 1809. He was abandoned by his father in 1810 and his mother died in 1811. He was taken in by his uncle John Allan who was strict and parsimonious. The young man would call himself Edgar Allan Poe. Poe entered the University of Virginia but dropped out after one year. While there he fell in love with and became engaged to Sarah Royster but for reasons unknown, they parted.
He later entered the army and then on to West Point. He was exceptional at what he did and received the rank of lieutenant while there. It was at this time that he published his first book of poetry. Poe loved to gamble and he was constantly at odds over money with his uncle. He then decided to write full time and by disobeying a few orders he was expelled from West Point.
In 1836 he'd marry his cousin Virginia Clemm. Virginia would die in 1847 from tuberculosis at age 24. Although he kept writing, Poe became entrapped in a world of disease, drugs and alcohol. He died in Baltimore at age 40. In spite of it, he had written some of the greatest Gothic Horror stories of all time such as "The Tell-tale Heart, "The Cask of amontillado", "The Pit and the Pendulum" and "The Fall of the House of Usher".
I'll not soon forget the looks of astonishment that my students projected as I read the "Cask of Amontillado" to them. Their eyes widened like half dollars as they listened to the account of the vengeful Montressor walling up the hapless Fortunato alive in a wine cellar. Many of Poes stories would make the silver screen and to this day are unsurpassed. Fast forward 149 years.
To say that Frank Feranna Jr- born in 1958- was a problem child would be an understatement. Raised by a single mom who soon abandoned him, he would live with his grandparents in Idaho. His sister, who had Down's Syndrome would pass away several years later. Frank became a bit of a "problem child". He vandalized neighbors' homes, shop lifted and was expelled from school for selling drugs. He'd be sent back to his mom and raised in Seattle.
Feranna would buy a bass guitar with the money from another guitar that he stole. He formulated several bands and then with drummer Tommy Lee created Motley Crue. He would rename himself Nikki Sixx. They had a hit album with "Too Fast For Love" but with the added money came heroin addiction.
One night after making merry in an LA club called the Rainbow Room, Sixx witnessed a woman being accosted by a biker with bad manners. He took off his studded belt and swung it hoping to ward of the attacker who was undaunted. A fight ensued and shortly after, two off duty policemen got out of the car and mercilessly beat both the combatants with batons.
Naturally, Sixx was angered but rather than doing something violent he wrote a song about this experience (Knock Em Dead Kid) which would be a hit number off his next album. In 1987, he overdosed and was clinically dead for two minutes. He was successfully revived and decided to dry out. He is now a father of 5 and 25 years clean.
The point I'm trying to make here is that here are two men, one a writer and one a musician with horrible lives. However, instead of picking up a gun, a knife or some other weapon, they picked up a pen and a guitar pick and vented their angst and anger to something so positive that they both, in their own way, achieved greatness. What if we as friends, parents, and teachers try to observe a child's passion and direct them toward it. Poe and Sixx were lucky, they had no one but themselves to channel their passion. All the more reason why we as a community try to direct the younger generation to divert their angst and anger into art.
" In the heat of the night, you went and blackened my eyes. I'm back, I'm back , I'm back and I'm commin your way"--Nikki Sixx
