Essays from Seymour Avenue: Me, Ariel Castro, and the Captive Cleveland Women - Paperback

by Jon Horst Hoyer M. DIV (Author)

These 7 essays examine a number of the facets of the Seymour Avenue kidnapping case that occurred in Cleveland, OH, which made headlines around the world when 3 women and a child were rescued alive in May of 2013 after years of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. There is also an analysis of the public persona of the now-imprisoned perpetrator, Ariel Castro, who was personally known to the author. The purpose of the book is to prompt the reader to examine their presuppositions about race, class, and gender, and also to prod them towards introspection as to their role in the world.

Author Biography

Jon Horst Hoyer is a former Lutheran clergyman who lived and worked just steps away from the house on Seymour Avenue from where 3 women and a child were rescued in May of 2013. He is intimately familiar with that street, having spent the first 10 years of his life growing up in that environment, as well as having served as the Director of Ministries at the Lutheran Church located at the corner of Seymour Avenue and Scranton Road. In addition, he was personally acquainted with the man now incarcerated for the horrendous crimes, namely Ariel Castro. Hoyer currently resides and writes in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio.