Publisher's Synopsis
Stand Up For Your Rights! "'The Truth Will Set You Free' is the captivating legacy of a unique individual who faces the challenges of life with fearless tenacity.
Not only does DeRoche pay homage to those who have touched his soul, but he presents a candid and intimate view of his journey to freedom. Bursting with life, his story is both inspirational and empowering. A memorable read that will keep you turning pages to the very end." Judith Campanaro, LHMC, AT Author of "Art For The Soul, The Healing Magic of Creativity" [email protected]. "It's great. Congratulations." Sandra Sutton Andrews, PhD Director, Research & Design Applied Technologies Institute, Arizona State University. "I was one of seven children struggling to survive in a family with a bipolar father. The goal was to maintain one's sanity and somehow escape alive, mentally and emotionally that is as deep depression and suicide came to define our family dynamic. Using my education as a method of escape, I pursued a B.A. degree in Sociology/Social Work and contributed several years to this helping profession, specializing in attending to those afflicted similarly as my father- until I became the victim of a Rodney King type beating at the hands of several white cops who decided to teach me a lesson for being with a Black woman on my motorcycle at 2:00 AM leaving a night club in Hartford, CT, in June of 1976. Convinced by legal representation that the system was corrupt and a case was 'unwinnable' against the police, I failed to stand up for my rights...until now. Now I speak out about this injustice and for the injustices of all those who do not have a voice." Review of Jon D. Green, Professor of Humanities, Brigham Young University: "This personal and painful memoir is a sober reminder that our justice system can be both flawed and cruel. His unjust incarcerations of 1976 and 2010, frame, like bookends, his nomadic life, his search for meaning and lasting affection, which seldom occurred. What amazed me throughout the reading was his indomitable resilience, a refusal to let adverse circumstances destroy his hope for love, peace, and personal success. His writing failed at first to draw me into his saga, but gradually I came to understand and value his personal insights expressed in the many quotes drawn from his wide readings of wisdom and Native American (non-Western) literature. Dennis is the archetypal survivor and consummate collector of people and sayings. His many relationships seem a blur of fond or passionate beginnings and nightmarish endings. One is left at the end of the book with deep yearnings for his success in making the memorable moments last, because his painful personal disclosures of his star-crossed existence reveal a deeply caring and sensitive human being caught in the web of mostly unmerited misfortune. His love affair with the BMW motorcycle and his Dodge camper RV 'Peace Machine' have given the 'journey' of his life an epic quality reminiscent of Dante's 'Inferno' and Persig's cult classic 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance', which draw a thematic thread in the book. His early references to life and death paradoxes reminded me of Freud's concept of the 'uncanny', (a short study called 'Das Unheimliche'), which finds literary expression in Thomas Mann's novel, 'The Magic Mountain', with the contradictory emotions of falling and the thrill of confronting one's own annihilation. It comes up indirectly in his brother's suicide."
