| Article Index |
|---|
| The Summer of New Coke |
| Chapter One |
| All Pages |
AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION
I heard about Todd Blankenship's adventures, if you could call them that, about a year ago. It was a phone call from an old friend in the area of incidence that introduced me to Todd's present incarceration. Being out of work, the usual author's story, I went down and interviewed him. I found a quiet, shy boy. Not anything like the stories I had read biased me to believe.
He was eager to tell `his' version of the story. Over the next six months I realized there was more to this tale than just a few teenagers causing hell with the military. The newspaper accounts lead the reader to believe that they were a group of anti- establishment ruffians out to glue down an organized machine. I found, it's amazing that it takes authors to find these things, that it was just summer fun turned tragic and that Todd was being railroaded. Granted that foolish ideas should be left alone but when is a teenager going to throw off a foolish idea when the chances of intrigue and adventure glisten ahead?
And this story would have never been told if those same teenagers had gotten away scott-free. But the hands of fate laid down the law and the events happend as they did. And so the story must be told.
The events written about within are true, but as commonly stated and rightfully so, the places have been changed and the names changed to protect those from unneeded agravation. And specifically from procecution for events that have yet to come to light and, hopefully, never will. But some of you reading this will undoubtablly recognize certian events, maybe even some of the people. So please refrain from any rash ideas. The subjects have paid their dues and do not need any self-proclaimed judge and jury to hassle them any further.
Just sit back and enjoy the tale as it unweaves. And you may come to the same conclusion as I; Teenagers are the doers of the immpossible, immprobable and its a wonder we survived those turbulent years.
APB
Davis, CA - 1987
