'Rolling Pennies in the Dark' by Douglas MacKinnon: A Review
Douglas MacKinnon has penned a personal account and poignant message in his new book, "Rolling Pennies in the Dark."
The author describes his troubled upbringing in dangerous and impoverished settings as well as the life-long consequences of his hellacious childhood.
The survivor of a gang-related stabbing, MacKinnon also describes living through a bus accident, bullying, and extremely poor conditions all before the age of fifteen.
During the incredible hardship and struggle he endured, the author turned to his faith in God to keep him alive.
"My tiny baby Jesus was my new and only constant friend," wrote MacKinnon of the plastic statue that served as the foundation of his faith.
The story highlights MacKinnon's alcoholic parents who once left him and his two siblings in a car during a blizzard where they almost froze to death. When sober, the father would abandon the family for long periods of time, leaving their mentally unstable mother to care for the three children.
"My parents did not care if we went days without food. My parents did not care if clothes were filthy. My parents did not care if we smelled bad … My parents did not care about us," wrote MacKinnon.
"Rolling Pennies" refers to the night he spent with his mother rolled what little money the family had into fifty-cent rolls. The pennies were needed to pay for medicine as well as the stamps used to enter the family into contests.
"Unlike other 'normal' people, who enter contests to win fabulous trips to Europe or luxury cars, we were entering these meager contests just to survive," explained MacKinnon. "Just to win anything."
Before writing "Rolling Pennies in the Dark," MacKinnon's unbelievable journey led him to respected writing careers in the Pentagon as well as The White House.
In closing the memoir, MacKinnon includes an important message about poverty.
"Poverty is not a state of mind. It's real. It's relentless. It's cruel. And if you don't figure a way out, it will eventually defeat you mentally. It will defeat your physically. And then, finally, when you think you can take no more, poverty will gleefully lead you to the edge of the abyss and dare you to jump. Tragically, many do."
MacKinnon shares his belief that single mothers are today's heroes of America for not "ending a viable life, who did not turn her back on responsibility, and who- at great sacrifice to herself, is raising her child or children to the best of her ability."
The author urges Americans to stray from "indifference and selfishness" and acknowledge the needs of those who cannot provide for themselves.
"Sympathize, empathize, and imagine," MacKinnon tells his readers. "But thank God, thank your parents, and even thank yourself if you've never had to experience what millions upon millions of your fellow human beings try to escape everyday of their lives."
MacKinnon also encourages those who suffer from poverty to raise themselves out of it.
"May the Lord help us. But only if we help ourselves," wrote MacKinnon. "Get up and take a stand."
