Books to Borrow Claysburg Area Public Library Recommends

David Crow was the oldest son of Thurston Crow, an ex-convict. Thurston claimed to be a Cherokee and that his family were mistreated by the Anglos. He was physically and verbally abusive to his wife and children. Thurston had a warped sense of justice. He believed that murder could even be justified. David endured beatings when he didn’t live up to his father’s expectations. David’s mother had mental issues and was not able to handle the family. Lonnie, his older sister raised the younger children, Sam and Sally.

At age 10, Thurston used David to help him steal tools from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. David was the lookout while his dad loaded up the truck. He would sell them to construction companies who didn’t care where the tools came from. Around that time, his dad decided David’s mother had to go. He packed up the house and took the children and left his wife with an old mattress, a pile of clothes, no electricity, no heat and an old car. Later it was revealed that Thurston cut the brake line in hopes that she would die.

David and Sam terrorized the Navajo Indian reservation where they lived. That was the Crow way. You didn’t forgive and forget, you got even and one up those who wronged you. It was not until the family moved to Washington, D.C., that David learned another way to live. After graduating from high school, David was determined to succeed in spite of his upbringing, dyslexia, poor eyesight and hearing problems. He went to college and later got a job in the US Department of Agriculture. When his father tried to get his sister, Sally, involved in a plot to kill his second wife, David knew he had to stop his father’s criminal demands on his family.

This is a true story which is captivating and yet inspiring. What inspired me to read the book was to learn how someone could overcome such a miserable childhood and yet be successful. David had to learn to forgive and accept love.