Bill Reed

Safe Harbor: a Boy's Story Bill Reed

Safe Harbor A Boy's Story is a memoir of a lonely boy growing up in a dysfunctional family during World War II and the struggle to find his way as a teen and young man in the fifties.
 
Bill Reed's absorbing memoir as a lonely boy trapped and unable to defend himself in a loveless family draws us into a war of survival he didn't know he was in, a fight to learn, to expierience love and enjoy life. At first, he was a happy six year old in Coronado, but when his sailor father returned life became turmoil. Drinking and constant arguing by mismatched parents playing mind games at their children's expense became normal again. His callous father shunned him and when his passive mother didn't show him love and guidance, or how to prepare him for life's challenges, he felt unloved, lonely and confused. How was he to learn if no one would teach him?
Author Reed vividly describes his search and life as a kid in such a family and what he learned about parenting, love, death, and family relationships. His boyish escapades are laced with humor, and the clashes with his father are told with candor and clarity as he seeks guidance from unexpected sources.