Theodore, Wayne 1958-

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THEODORE, Wayne 1958-

PERSONAL:

Born 1958, in MA; married; wife's name, Laura; children: five daughters, one son. Hobbies and other interests: Boating, snowmobiling, riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New Hampshire. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Harbor Press, P.O. Box 1656, Gig Harbor, WA 98335.

CAREER:

Business owner and writer. Coach of local little league team. Has appeared on television talk shows, including Sally.

WRITINGS:

(With Leslie A. Horvitz) Wayne: An Abused Child's Story of Courage, Survival, and Hope, Harbor Press (Gig Harbor, WA), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS:

Born in northern Massachusetts in the late 1950s, Wayne Theodore and his eleven siblings were raised in a home where their abusive father beat his children daily, unopposed by his passive wife, and regularly subjected his offspring to starvation, torture, and humiliation. Theodore's father denied his son an education after the eighth grade, and then farmed the young teen out to a series of menial jobs, confiscating all his wages. After running away from home, Theodore's problems didn't end: he battled teen drug addiction, suicide, and had difficulty with close relationships due to his own abusive tendencies until he finally confronted his abusive past and turned his life around. Hoping to help others who have been raised in similar situations, he collaborated with New York City-based writer Leslie A. Horvitz and penned his autobiography Wayne: An Abused Child's Story of Courage, Survival, and Hope.

Praising Theodore's book for not veering into the sensational, Dale Ferris added in his Library Journal review of Wayne that the "hearbreaking account" will "stun readers with it s astonishing details of unimaginable abuse and neglect." Noting that some of Theodore's story may be "too graphic and disturbing for some readers"—Theodore's father almost killed him at age six—Booklist contributor Vanessa Bush nonetheless praised Wayne as a "powerful memoir" and an "inspiring look at surviving child abuse."