campus. The idea for this setting was conceived in the writer’s mind many years earlier as he studied evening courses at a university and at that time attended a support group with a different agenda. This first book was written twenty years ago and recently revised so as to take care of some of the technicalities of society which have changed with time. But the essence of the content is still as valid as ever. In fact, due to the continual worsening of the problems herein portrayed, the need for such an exposé is ever greater.
The author is not a psychologist per sé, although he is widely read in the subject. In fact, he has many disagreements with formal psychology and psychiatry. These are backed by his uniquely wide experiences in many occupations and industries, rubbing shoulders with people in all walks of life.
However, not from personal experience only has the writer gained his insights, but from observations of others and listening to the stories of numerous people, as their work mate, or, as their minister in the church, each over a period of decades.
This book is followed with another by the same author and on the same topic, but with more relevance to adult life in the present time when the problem is grossly worsening and spreading in North America. The second writing shows more vividly the sheer cruelty and often brazen mental abuse with deceptive cover-up that is that is inflicted on fine, well charactered, cultured and intelligent people, not only by individuals as in the first book, but by groups of people - birds of a feather acting together.
Also the types of people who practice this malady are described and characterized, with stories to illustrate their behavior, including breaking the law by, often intentionally, inflicting emotional distress on adults; which law, to date, has been generally applied to spousal and child abuse.
Places and people have been disguised for the usual reasons. Simple Latin names have been used for locations. Names of characters have been chosen for their meaning, and coincide with their general character make-up. This was, more or less, a matter of convenience in finding suitable names, though it adds authenticity to the characters and the story.
The writer makes no claim to academic excellence, much less to what he sees as the over-sophistication of psychological theory. On the contrary, considering his background as a constantly assailed fine person he regards himself to be very fortunate indeed to have attained even one university level degree. He has only the intention, in both books, to have the problem exposed so that it may be more adequately dealt with both on a personal level and legally through litigation.
The books are written within the Christian perspective of the author, although there is much in them for people of other faiths, and more expressly for people in all of life’s occupations.
Cleon E. Spencer
Chapter One
Collin Seldon walked, at his usual brisk pace, up the sidewalk towards the glass doors of the Arts building of Quilibet University. The impressive glass front of the several storied structure caused him to glance upward as he approached. His face brightened and his lips showed the trace of a smile at the inviting warmth of the building. He swung open the street level door and entered. But then as if by intrusion of some other feelings the smile disappeared. He wondered now, would the inside be as inviting as the outside appeared to be. As he took the few steps across the entrance way, he gave a little shrug, as if to say to himself, oh well, take it as it comes.
Thoughts ran through Collin’s mind as on this September Tuesday evening he proceeded up the half set of stairs that led to the first floor. On the previous Thursday he had taken the downward section of the divided stairway to the below ground hall where he had registered in an evening course in Psychology. Classes would begin this evening.
From the stair top he proceeded down the sizeable foyer of Floor One, to the elevators. There he became somewhat absorbed in ambivalent thought as he pushed the up button, waited a moment or two, stepped with other students onto the elevator, disembarked on floor three, all the while thinking how pleasant it could be to be back in the student world. Collin had a liking for a reasonable amount of this part of life. But his thoughts were juxtaposed with unpleasantness as well. His past academic life hadn’t been all roses. Many people find university life pleasant, but not a person such as Collin Seldon. Have I been a fool to come back for more? he wondered.
Why, just now as he had crossed the busy foyer, he received a variety of unpleasant reactions from people who had only his appearance to go by as their motivation for their negative attitudes towards him. Of course there were some pleasant reactions towards him too, by those good people who took the trouble to even glance at him. But he much more caught the attention of people who didn’t like him.
As he rode up the elevator, he wondered again if he had been a fool to come. Being now past middle-age he perhaps should be gearing down with regard to things like this, and spend more time with his fine and lovely wife, and their children and grandchildren.
And what is it about Collin Seldon that brought negative reactions exemplified by such gestures as pushing up a lip in contempt; raising one’s head high momentarily in an ‘I’m better than you’ gesture; by a shaking of the head when passing by to intimidate and lessen his self-esteem; or by simply turning the head away as if to imply, I don’t even see you, or, you’re not worth looking at.
Although approaching retirement age, Collin had still retained a goodly measure of his youthful appearance and his vim and vigor. There were some signs of aging: his light brown hair graying at the sides; his wholesome, healthy looking facial complexion just beginning to show wrinkles in its past middle-age fullness; his once athletic body showing to be somewhat overweight; his average height being lessened, to a glancing eye, by shoulders that have begun to round. Collin was really just beginning to show his years, but he looked, and was still a fine, dignified looking person, as he had been all his life. His fine appearance was augmented by his modest, yet tasteful clothes and mannerism.
Good, well cultured people like and respect Collin Seldon for what he is - a fine smart looking, well charactered person of discerning mind. Although little or no attention is paid to it in society, the fact is, numerous others in all walks of life hate him and people similar to him, for the same reason, and often cause them much trouble. It is this latter reality which kept crossing his mind as he now returned to a campus as an evening student.
Collin had, over the years, learned to take these facts of his life in his stride as an unavoidable part and parcel of the life of a person such as he, yet he could not help but be aware of and affected by it.
At any rate he was coming back to the classroom again, if only on a limited scale. Collin Seldon was a clergyman by profession - a good one to whom many nice people easily confided their troubles and joys, their fears and hopes; to whom people turned, sometimes for advice, and often for approval or disapproval of a deed or desire or plan of action.
Collin, although not academically specialized in the area of counseling, was quite adept with this aspect of his ministry, coming by it naturally. He had a fairly broad basic training in the field, which he augmented occasionally by reading the latest books on the subject. In fact, the reason he was on his way to the classroom now was to take this course in “Current Trends in Psychology, Psychiatry and Relevant Social Problems.” The name had caught his eye one day as he looked through the university catalog while helping a young member of his congregation plan a study program. Mostly it was the last three words of the course’s title that had caught Collin’s attention, namely, Relevant Social Problems.
Maybe, he thought to himself at the time, maybe there is some new breakthrough here. Please God, could there be? Heaven knows there is a need - and I know from personal experience.
