Culture
Nelsonville man’s memoir sheds light on his experience of homelessness
By: Emily Votaw
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There are those who believe they could never experience homelessness, often thanks to an ego that has been inflated by generations of privilege which acts as sort of a fun house mirror – distorting everything, and everyone, around them. Then there are those who know all too well how quickly and easily one finds oneself without any kind of support in a world they’ve seen demonstrate a brutal indifference to human suffering. And then there are those like Charles Whaley III, those born into the kind of underprivileged circumstances which make the experience of homelessness a statistical likelihood.
Whaley, a Nelsonville native, has written a memoir entitled “A Modern Hobo Story,” which details four years of his young life, much of which was spent freight-hopping across the United States. Born to an abusive family in a poor part of the country, Whaley does everything he can to continue to survive in a world that seems hellbent on making that goal as difficult to attain as possible for the young artist.
Early on, that survival entails living in the woods around Nelsonville, depending on dangerous sex work and odd jobs just to get by. As Whaley’s health declines in these awful conditions, he bravely decides to make a change instead of giving up. The first step in that change entails finding a ride with a family member to the middle of South Carolina to begin a journey to a Rainbow Family of Living Light gathering in Florida.
And so begins “A Modern Hobo Story.” Whaley does get to the Rainbow Family Gathering, but not without encountering both people who embody the goodness of humankind as well as those who embody our worst tendencies. Even before Whaley gets to the Gathering, he finds a sense of community with other “dirty kids” and those outside of mainstream society throughout his journey.
With precise writing, Whaley gives the reader sometimes painful insights into the struggles, joy, and self-development that he experienced over the four or so years his memoir covers. Throughout his travels, his dedication to playing music grows, busking all over the country for tips – and spending a lot of time playing music right here in Athens, OH. In fact, you can find more about Whaley’s musical exploits by checking out this link to his music-related Facebook page.
Whaley’s story is especially important in the contemporary moment, as the numbers of those who are experiencing homelessness grow in the wake of several social, cultural, and economic changes. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, approximately 549,928 people in the United States were experiencing homelessness in 2016. In contrast, approximately 580,466 people in the United States were experiencing homelessness at the beginning of 2020.
The reader does learn that Whaley does receive some relief from his experience of homelessness — however, a good book review wouldn’t ever give away the ending, would it?