Foreword
One has come to expect that stories of this type always bear a legend just behind the title page that proclaims: "The characters in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental." Astute readers now observe this legal escape clause and comment; "Oh, this must be another book about Howard Hughes."
In all likelihood, the publisher, or his attorneys, will probably insist that this trite "Loophole Louis" clause appear in this book also. Well, don't you believe it!
To be sure, the individual character of George Ross is indeed fictitious. He is merely the figment of a fertile author's imagination. Whether or not, as a real flesh-and-blood person, he ever loved or did the things attributed to him in this story, nobody can really say. Given an infinite number of characters and an infinite number of situations into which to place them, any author of fiction must, in time, make an accurate portrayal of a real-life character. Considered as a generalized characterization, I can definitely state that our society is indeed replete with the George Rosses of life. They are a natural by-product of our present way of life.
Neither liking, nor hating, the situation will, by itself, alter the basic facts. There are many dark facets to the present sociological scene. Just as with flaws in a diamond, we cannot hide them nor can we simply wash them away. In order to rid ourselves of these flaws or dark spots, we must first study and understand their nature. Only when we have gained a cogent knowledge of them can we begin to grind or buff away these ugly flaws which mar the gemstone of our existence.
Progressive political administrations, at both federal and state levels, have made tremendous strides in legislating programs of social reform designed to give aid and comfort to the very young and the very old. While these are commendable steps in the right direction, they do not take into account the vast segment of the population caught in the forty-to-fifty year span between these two social-aid programs.
The population, explosion following World War II has made available a tremendous work force in their twenties. Trained observers of the business and industrial economic scene comment that men, by their mid thirties are often considered too old for the job. They flatly state that even highly trained and skilled men over forty find themselves virtually unemployable in the current labor market. A prominent industrial-relations expert writing recently in The Wall Street Journal described this group of men as "going through that awkward age in which they find themselves too old to obtain gainful employment and too young to collect Social Security." In recent years the unemployment and welfare rolls have been swelled by such people. In time, even these benefits expire. What are they to do then? Where do they run to and how do-they exist financially and socially? Where can a proud man go when he has come to the end of the line? Some become wards of the public while others become a burden on their children. One might paraphrase the words of Sir Winston Churchill and say of this unprecedented social phenomenon: "Never before in the history of human endeavor have so many been so expendable so early in life."
Both sociologists and psychologists have long realized that many prisoners, while physically restrained from contact with the opposite sex, turn to the practice of homosexual acts during their incarceration. Exhaustive studies of this problem have revealed that the majority of these inmates regard this as a poor substitute for normal heterosexual relationships and lose all interest in homosexuality upon their release. They often justify their actions on the basis that "a half a loaf is better than none." Several prominent psychiatrists and sexologists have noted with alarm the rapidly increasing incidence of male pedophilia in our current society. They describe a close parallel as existing between the psychological motivations of the prisoner to turn to homosexuality and the unemployed middle-age male to turn to pedophilia. Common to both cases is the old expression that "an idle mind is the devil's playground." In the case of the latter group, men used to taking a proud and active part in life are separated from their peers either financially or socially. Suffering the pangs of frustration born of rejection and futility, they seek to impress and seduce someone, if only to bolster their ego. Since youth, as a group, is generally easily impressed, they turn to the youngsters of the opposite sex. Often it is the grandchild's baby-sitter who is his target because they are alone together, in privacy at night. In many cases these men readjust sexually when they become socially readjusted. They then regard the pedophilia as a temporary substitute for sexual normalcy just as the prisoner regards his temporary homosexuality.
Such a man is George Ross, the principal character of this narrative. The story is not a pretty one, but then neither was John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath which brought to light the social significance of a similar slice of life a generation ago.
Mr. Harris' portrayal of this character is as poignant as it is pointed. Being fictional, our story has a happy ending in that Ross is fortunate enough to meet a woman doctor who succeeds in performing a psychological retread job which equips him to return to a normal, useful life within the current society. In real life, all too few disturbed men afflicted with this particular form of sexual aberration are so fortunate.
After reading this novel, I get the feeling that the author is not asking the reader to have compassion for his characters but merely to make an effort to understand them and their problems. If he accomplishes this purpose, this book-has social significance in that a step will have been taken in the right direction. In the words of an old Chinese proverb: "The journey of a thousand miles must start with but a single step."
Jules Griffon, Ph.D. Beverly Hills, California April 1973