Christal
Cooper
*Article
With Excerpts – 2,451 Words
The Trained Observer:
Writer & Police
Officer Karen Lynch
On Her Memoir Good Cop, Bad Daughter
Twitter
@baddaughter18
“I suppose you could
say, police work trained me to be a writer. Both cops and writers are “trained
observers.” We must take detailed note of the minutiae of daily life, and glean
what we can from it, whether we are searching for evidence of a crime, or doing
a character study, the same ability to focus on both the large and small
picture is essential to the work.”
In February of 2014 Nothing But The Truth LLC Press published Karen Lynch’s memoir Good
Cop, Bad Daughter: Memoirs of an
Unlikely Police Officer.
In
Good
Cop, Bad Daughter, 29 year veteran of the San Francisco Police
Department, Karen Lynch, writes about how being raised by a mentally ill mother
and a tribe of hippies gave her the perfect training she needed in order to
become a police officer.
Karen Lynch entered into the police force
in 1981, one year after she graduated from college only to read the newspaper
headline that the job market was degrading and therefore her college degree
from U.C. Berkeley was useless.
I put a quarter in the box, dug out a paper, and was skimming the
news when an ad stopped me cold. Four
uniformed women smiled at me above a caption ordering, “Join the SFPD.” The women looked proud and confident, part of
a big, happy family. I felt a surge of
envy. I’d spent my childhood yearning to
be part of a family. For a moment, I
tried to envision myself belonging to this group of uniformed sisters.
Then I imagined how Mom would react if
she saw the ad. I could almost hear her
outrage: “look at those storm trooper
sell-outs. Now they’re using women to
protect the capitalist pigs!”
Excerpt from Prologue
Karen Lynch, 57, was born in San
Francisco to an absentee father and a mentally ill and manipulative
mother who, at some times, exhibited violence to her daughter.
I had grown up in the Haight-Ashbury
neighborhood as the Summer Love dawned in San Francisco. Mom had abandoned her East Coast family,
fleeing them as if running for her life.
She spent many years on government assistance because of her illness –
manic depression with overtones of paranoid schizophrenia. She seldom mentioned her New York family, but
during the episodes she occasionally ranted in public about her awful parents,
lashing out at strangers, insulting and terrifying them. Sometimes the police came and took her
away. I was glad to see the police, but
Mom hated them.
One of my biggest fears was that I’d
end up like her; dependent, reliant upon the Department of Social services or
the generosity of some boyfriend to keep me alive. I had learned form an early age that relying
on the kindness of strangers was a risky business.
Excerpt from Prologue.
In
1981, she became one of the first female police officers in the San Francisco
Police Department. During her 29 years
in the San Francisco Police Department she worked in a variety of positions.
“I began as a
“Patrolman” which means I worked uniform street patrol. After nine years
working the streets of the Central Station district, I was promoted to
Inspector and assigned to the Hit & Run Detail for many years. We handled
vehicle fatalities, Felony Drunk Driving, as well as hit & run accidents. After
years of waiting on the Homicide list, my name came up for assignment, and
after the interview process, I was transferred to Homicide where I worked my
last five years.”
The victim’s mother opened the door and
led us down the hallway, and there, collapsed on the ground, was a body in a
pool of thick fluid. I knew it was
blood, but my mind registered it as something else – strawberry Jell-O. The contents of a human skull poured out on
wall-to-wall carpet looked exactly like strawberry Jell-O. The man’s skull had been blown open with a
.45 caliber handgun-a self-inflicted gunshot wound. I knew I should have been paralyzed with
shock at seeing something so obscene, something surely no human was ever meant
to see. Yet, all I could think of was
strawberry Jell-O. Maybe cherry. No, definitely
strawberry. In spite of the body and
gun that were right in front of me, a part of my mind insisted on seeing the
red, gelatinous pool as nothing more than a dessert spill.
Excerpt “Siberia” page 252.
Throughout the later years of her tenure
at the police department her friends urged her to write about her childhood experiences
and experiences as a San Francisco police officer.
“But
life was hectic with our three children, and both Greg, my husband, and I,
working full time, so I kept the idea on the back burner.”
In
2009, she began to feel burned out from her job in the homicide unit, and one
month before her diagnosis found herself sitting at her boss’s desk telling him
that the job was killing her. A few
weeks later she found a lump in her breast and was diagnosed with triple
negative breast cancer, an aggressive type of cancer.
“The nurse who provided counseling at the
breast health center told me I probably would not want to continue doing police
work after the treatment. At the time I dismissed that notion, thinking I would
never want to leave my job. But when the surgery, chemo, and radiation were
over, I found my life priorities had changed.”
She
decided to retire from the San Francisco Police Department in order to spend
time with her family. Also, the writing
of her memoir moved from the back burner to the front burner, and she began to
write with an intense urgency.
“I felt compelled by three forces. One, I wanted my children
to know what my childhood had been like and why I had no relationship with any
of my family of origin.
And two, I wanted to
tell the story of the first women who worked as patrol officers in San
Francisco, the resistance we faced from the old guard, and how we overcame it.
Another impetus was the
idea that telling my story might give hope to young people who are living through
difficult childhoods. Had books like The
Glass Castle, Liar's
Club, and Angela's
Ashes existed when I was a child, I would have taken great comfort
in knowing I was not alone, and that people go on to escape childhood pain and
create beautiful lives.”
Two weeks before my academy class was to start I called Mom,
knowing I could no longer avoid telling her.
“Mom, I have some good news.”
“Let me guess: you’re getting married,” she said, without
enthusiasm. Married? Where had that come from? I wasn’t even dating anyone.
“Well, no, “ I worked to keep my tone
upbeat. ‘I’ve decided to join the San
Francisco Police Department. They’re
doing a big hiring drive and opening the doors to women.”
“Are you out of your mind?” she shrieked.
“How could you ever think of joining them after everything they’ve done
to me? They’ve been persecuting me for
decades! I knew you hated me, but this
is the worst thing you’ve ever done to me!
Why not just drive a stake through my heart?”
I took a deep breath.
“Mom, this is not about you. It’s just something I have to do.”
“Well, isn’t that the world’s greatest
news! My daughter’s becoming a fucking
Nazi!” She slammed down the receiver
without saying goodbye.
Excerpt “Wench” Page 134
Lynch
attended numerous writers’ workshops one of which was the San Francisco
Writers’ Grotto, where she met SF Grotto leader Julia Scheeres, who is the
best-selling author of Jesusland and A Thousand Lives.
“Julia Scheeres knows
how to teach the skills necessary for powerful memoir, and she is an excellent
editor. Her SF Grotto workshops are always sellouts.” www.juliascheeres.com
Perhaps
her greatest influence was Cheryl Strayed author of the bestseller and Oprah Winfrey
pick Wild.
“I was a little obsessed
with Cheryl and began following her around the country to participate in
workshops she taught. As well as being an excellent writer, she is a great
writing teacher.”
www.cherylstrayed.com
www.cherylstrayed.com
She also attended the Florida Gulf Coast
University’s Sanibel Writer’s Conference in Florida with workshops led by Steve
Almond, whose writing tips Lynch utilized in writing Good Cop, Bad Daughter.
The most difficult parts of the book to write was
not about her childhood and the abuse she received from her mother, but her
experiences at the police academy.
“Mentally going back to the training, such as
the scene where we are bombed with CS gas in a Quonset hut, or when we were
used as Officer Devlin’s test dummies to demonstrate the carotid restraint,
made me realize just how intense that period of my life was.”
Of course, I’d done the exact thing the
instructor told us not to do, and that was why I was now dying. Stinging needles penetrated the pores of my
face, neck, scalp, and hands. Ever atom
of skin not covered by my blue jumpsuit was being suffocated. This invader would kill me, I was
certain. My body was in primal panic
mode, unwilling to accept an early death at twenty-two. Every molecule of my being was fighting to
survive. I had fought for my life with
Mom seven years earlier using only my bare hands, but against this attacker, I
was defenseless.
It was week sixteen and we were in a
Quonset hut at Santa Rita Prison, being bombarded with tear gas so we would
know how it felt. The logic of the
exercise seemed iffy.
Excerpt “The Gas Chamber” Page 183
By now the book, titled The
Floating World, was too lengthy and needed intense editing. Her childhood friend, writer and playwright
Stephanie Lehmann, whom she lost contact with, came to her rescue. www.stephanielehmann.com
“Though Stephanie lives
in Manhattan, she returns to San Francisco frequently to visit family. On one
of those trips, several years ago, she looked me up and we reconnected then,
and also connected on Facebook. She
offered to read my book and because of her editing, I was able to whittle the
150,000 meandering words I started with into an 80,000-word story. The she gave
me the title for the book, which is much more clever than my original title.”
She then queried agents and publishers
for two years and finally met Nothing
But the Truth LLC publisher and founder Christine Bronstein through a
women’s networking group called A Band of
Women.
www.abandofwives-ning.com
www.abandofwives-ning.com
“I asked Christine if she knew of any agents
who might represent me. I was so naïve about the business it didn't even occur
to me that a writer could go directly to a publisher. I thought an agent was a
necessary part of the equation. So when Christine asked to read the book, I was
surprised and delighted. Luckily for me she loved it, and here we are.”
Today Lynch lives with her husband of 25
years Greg, who is also retired from the San Francisco Police Department, and
their youngest of three children, Kyra, 14.
The couple also has two sons, 23 and 20, whom Lynch always knew, from
the age of 11, she was meant to give birth to.
“I have no idea where
this certainty came from, but it was a driving force in my life. I always knew
they would be boys, and there would be two. My husband bet me we would have
girls, both times, and he lost, both times.”
The
one thing in the back of Lynch’s mind is her mother’s mental illness and if it was
hereditary and perhaps would pass on down to her biological children.
“My youngest is adopted,
so she is mercifully free of my DNA. When I decided to have biological
children, I of course, considered the possibility that my mother’s issues could
be hereditary. My mother had refused to
take medication, and she exacerbated her illness by drinking a lot of alcohol.
The medications are much more effective today, and though my children are very
healthy now, I am sure I will recognize the symptoms if they ever need help.
As for me, I have
struggled with depression on and off, but have found a medication combination
that works for me.”
The
one question that permeates from the book is how in the world did Karen Lynch
turn out so well without any signs of addiction, promiscuity, or delinquent
behavior?
“I have always felt the
presence of some sort of spiritual guidance. Some might call it a guardian
angel, but I don’t know how I would define it. I can say that this force has
compelled me to do things such as join the police department, have my sons, and
adopt my daughter. The force seems to lead me in the right direction. To some,
that will sound insane, I know, but it’s true.”
She
also credits her mother’s ex-boyfriend Jim, the only healthy father figure she
has known, and the one who comes to her rescue in the book, when no one else
would.
“I would not be here had
Jim not stepped up and taken me in when I was on the streets. And because of
Jim, another theme in my book is how the love of one adult can save an at risk
child.”
Jim stepped in as my sole, if illegal,
guardian. I was fifteen, and even at
that age, I understood his generosity and the risk he was taking. I’d had a small taste of life as a homeless
teen, and I was certain if not for Jim, I would have been in serious
trouble. So we began our search for an
apartment. Jim told the landlords he was
my stepfather in order to explain our different last names. An occasional building owner would raise his
eyebrows, as if we were Lolita and Humbert Humbert. But it only took a few weeks to find an
affordable one-bedroom in the Inner Sunset.
Just as we’d settled into the new
apartment and I’d started the new school year, Mom called from the hospital.
Excerpt ‘Floating Alone” pages 120-121.
As
a result Lynch maintains a philosophy of positivism, optimism and faith in a
Higher Power and humanity.
“I
have chosen to believe that everything, no matter how horrid it seems at the
time, is happening for a reason, and that reason is not for me to understand. I
love the writings of Victor Frankl. If he can keep the faith in a concentration
camp, I sure can do the same in my life."
Photograph
Description And Copyright Information
Photo 1
Karen
Lynch and the jacket cover of Good Cop, Bad Daughter
Photo 2
Karen
Lynch
Copyright
by Karen Lynch
Photo 3a
Web logo
for Nothing But the Truth LLC Press
Fair Use
Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 4
Jacket
cover of Good Cop, Bad Daughter
Photo 5
Karen
Lynch (far right) and her partner
Copyright
granted by Karen Lynch
Photo 6
Karen
Lynch
Copyright
granted by Karen Lynch
Photo 7
San
Francisco Police Department Badge
Public
Domain
Photo 8
Karen
Lynch as a little girl reading
Copyright
granted by Karen Lynch
Photo 9
Karen
Lynch (far left) with one of her partners.
Copyright
granted by Karen Lynch.
Photo 10
Karen
Lynch, far left.
Copyright
granted by Karen Lynch.
Photo 11
Karen
Lynch
Copyright
granted by Karen Lynch
Photo 12
Crime
Scene Tape
Fair Use
Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 13
Karen
Lynch after her cancer treatments.
Copyright
granted by Karen Lynch
Photo 14
Karen
Lynch in 2013
Copyright
granted by Karen Lynch
Photo 15
Karen
Lynch, far right, with one of her partners in 1984
Copyright
granted by Karen Lynch
Photo 16
Jacket
cover of The Glass Castle
Photo 17
Jacket
cover of Liar’s Club
Photo 18
Jacket
cover of Angela’s Ashes
Photo 19
Karen
Lynch press photo.
Photo 20
Jacket
cover of Jesusland
Photo 21
Jacket
cover of A Thousand Lives
Photo 22
Julia
Scheeres 2015.
Copyright
granted by Julia Scheeres
Photo 23
Jacket
cover of Wild
Photo 24
Web photo
of Cheryl Strayed
Fair Use
Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 25
Arts &
Letters review of Good Cop, Bad Daughter
Photo 26
Karen
Lynch holding Good Cop, Bad Daughter
Photo 27
Press
poster board of Good Cop, Bad Daughter
Photo 28
Web photo
of Stephanie Lehmann
Fair Use
Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 29.
Web logo
for Stephanie Lehmann’s website.
Fair Use
Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 30
Stephanie
Lehmann and Karen Lynch
Copyright
granted by Karen Lynch
Photo 31
Karen
Lynch, middle, at the Nothing But The Truth booth
Copyright granted by Karen Lynch.
Copyright granted by Karen Lynch.
Photo 32
Web photo
of Christine Bronstein
Fair Use
Under the United States Copyright Law
Photo 33
Web logo
for A Band of Women
Photo 34
Christine
Bronstein holding Good Cop, Bad Daughter
Copyright
granted by Karen Lynch
Photo 35
Karen
Lynch
Copyright
granted by Karen Lynch
Photo 36.
Karen
Lynch reading Good Cop, Bad Daughter
Copyright
granted by Karen Lynch
Photo 37
Karen
Lynch during an interview
Copyright
granted by Karen Lynch.
Photo 38
Karen
Lynch giving a reading from Good Cop, Bad Daughter
Photo
39
Karen
Lynch
Copyright granted by Karen Lynch
Copyright granted by Karen Lynch
Photo
40
Karen
Lynch
Copyright
granted by Karen Lynch
Photo
41
Victor
Frankl in 1965
Attributed
to Professor Dr. Franz Vesely
CCASA
3.0 Germany
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