About this item
Three years ago, John Schwartz, a national correspondent at The New York Times, got the call that every parent hopes never to receive: his thirteen-year-old son, Joe, was in the hospital following a failed suicide attempt. After mustering the courage to come out to his classmates, Joes disclosure delivered in a tirade about homophobic attitudeswas greeted with dismay and confusion by his fellow students. Hours later, he took an overdose of pills. Additionally, John and his wife, Jeanne, found that their sons school was unable to address Joes special needs. Angry and frustrated, they initiated their own search for services and groups that could help Joe understand that he wasnt alone. Oddly Normal is Schwartzs very personal attempt to address his familys own struggles within a culture that is changing fast, but not fast enough to help gay kids like Joe.
About the Author
I'm a reporter for The New York Times, and have covered everything from climate change to law to space shuttle launches. I also write a regular humor column about investing for the NYT business section, because I love a challenge. I was born in Texas, went to UT Austin (Hook 'em!) . I've also worked at The Washington Post and Newsweek in a career that has taken me from Moscow to the Mojave desert, from the bootheel of Missouri to Nanjing, China. For stories, I have flown a jetpack, ridden a moon rover prototype, been zapped (safely) with a million volts of electricity and caught drones. I'm married to my college sweetheart, Jeanne Mixon, and we have three kids.
