Met the End, a true-crime survival memoir, explores the life and death of John Powell, first known victim of American serial killer Donald Harvey, through the eyes of Powell’s daughter, Holly Brians Ragusa. When a motorcycle accident in 1986 left Powell in a coma, the nightmare for Brians Ragusa and her family had scarcely begun: Harvey, a nurse’s aid, was poisoning him with cyanide, and when Powell died, an investigation revealed dozens of similar crimes. For Brians Ragusa, fifteen years old at the time, the incident had profound mental and emotional consequences. She struggled for decades to reconcile childhood memories of her Dad against the sensational publicity surrounding his murder. Then, in 2017, the national spotlight returned to Harvey’s case when a fellow prison inmate beat him to death. Rekindled trauma from the news coverage drove Brians Ragusa to finally tell her father’s story. Through research, interviews, and introspection, Brians Ragusa faces the tragedy of her family’s past, and finds reclamation.
Tabela de Conteúdo
Prologue
Introduction
Chapter One -Beginnings
Chapter Two -Family
Chapter Three-Home
Chapter Four -Dad
Chapter Five -Upend
Chapter Six-Hindsight
Chapter Seven -Caregiver
Chapter Eight -Record
Chapter Nine -Recover
Chapter Ten -Descent
Chapter Eleven -Suspect
Chapter Twelve -Arrest
Chapter Thirteen -Investigate
Chapter Fourteen -Grasp
Chapter Fifteen -Hearing
Chapter Sixteen -Aftermath
Chapter Seventeen -Help
Chapter Eighteen -Support
Chapter Nineteen -Grit
Chapter Twenty-Retrospection
Chapter Twenty-One-Bound
Chapter Twenty-Two-Casualty
Chapter Twenty-Three-Absorb
Chapter Twenty-Four-Obligate
Chapter Twenty-Five-Stakeholder
Chapter Twenty-Six-Indicate
Chapter Twenty-Seven-Survive
In Thanks
Endnotes/References
Sobre o autor
Holly Brians Ragusa (she/her/hers) is an interdisciplinary writer, speaker and community activist based in Cincinnati. Author of Met the End (November 2022) and an Opinion contributor to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Brians Ragusa’s other publications include La Piccioletta Barca, Tiny Seed Literary Journal, The Well and On Being Mindful Poetry Project, Inside Out: A Trans Artist Project, and Earth Journal. She serves a range of nonprofits and lives in historic Over-the-Rhine, sharing space with her husband, mother, three cats, one dog, and (sometimes) two grown children. Her passions also include moon-gazing, seeking meaning, and mustard. hbragusa.com