the existence of anthony godby johnson

I believe this boy does/did exist. I would do anything to protect my children and I can understand why Tony’s step mom would go through such lengths to want to protect him by not letting anyone near him. It’s a shame that people are questioning this boy’s existence. As if everything he’s been through is not enough now people want to doubt his story is true? I for one admire his mom for being able to put up with the hurt she must be feeling of having so many people question her and her family. It’s a shame.

Can you provide a link that shows what exactly you are talking about?

I really do not know what you are refering to here.

I haven't read the book and don't think I want to...but I think this explains it a bit.

www.radfordreviews.com...

Excerpt Four: Revealing a Literary Hoax: The Strange Case of Anthony Godby Johnson

When it comes to tragic stories, Anthony Godby Johnson's is without equal. According to his 1993 book, A Rock and a Hard Place, his parents beat him, allowed their friends to rape him, and denied him food and a bed. In 1989, when he was eleven and on the verge of suicide, Tony fled from his horrific abuse and into the arms of a New York city couple who adopted him. Yet there was more tragedy lying in wait: Tony soon found out that he was dying of AIDS. Tony's book garnered much acclaim, with USA Today calling Tony a "boy with a powerful will to love"; and book reviews posted on Amazon.com gush of this "powerful" and "incredible" story.

Ugh

Originally posted by masqua

Ugh

No doubt.

reply to post by remedy67


I believe the questioning over Tony's existence is because of his incredible resistance to death. He is now in his twenties, suffers from AIDS (not HIV) for the last 8(?) years and is STILL alive. I mean - do you even understand how AIDS drains the body of immunity and life? Do you have any concept of the effectiveness of AIDS drugs in the nineties? The combination medication has made leaps and bounds in prolonging AIDS for sufferers, but... not for over ten years and throughout such poor health. This 'boy' has been riddled with an eclectic bag of medical complications - yet is still alive?

Ah... no..

I do not think people are questioning because they want to discredit the story - the probing comes from a deeper anger that a child has been allowed to experience such horrific circumstances. Now, imagine you are so moved, and so angry from such a story that you become entangled in needing to bring justice for this child. And then, through research, round blind corners and bricked up alleyways, you reach a dead end. And no one can vouch any information -

Dear rememdy67, no one can hide from all of that probing - with a story as sensational as Tony's, something would be parallel in truth from records in the courthouse, he would have seen by someone in the neighbourhood, a social worker would testify, perhaps a doctor from one of his hospitals or his parents would be traced. Someone would have leaked his adoption details to the press - I do not believe that the reason his records are 'kept secret' is because of the integrity of others - if money is to be made, someone would have come forward to make it.

I believe the outcry comes from the fear that someone is devoid of such normal social conscious, for whatever reason, that such a story was concocted and peddled around. We all want to believe in miracles remedy67, but as David Hume wrote in the 1600's, we must objectify and interrogate these occurrences - as human beings, as a rational species - it is natural to want to SEE this miracle, it is natural to feel angry if we suspect we are being fooled.