Men in My Town profiled in the Fall Issue of Providence College Magazine
Keith Smith’s Men in My Town is profiled in the Fall Issue of Providence College Magazine 
In an article titled, Graduates’ Literary Works Hit the Bookshelf, 5 PC alumni authors are profiled including Keith Smith and his recently released bio-novel, Men in My Town. In Men in My Town (BookSurge, 2009), Keith Smith tells the shocking but compelling story of the abduction, beating, and rape of a teenage boy, followed by the unsolved murder of his assailant. Making the narrative even more gripping is that the protagonist and victim was Smith himself. Writing the highly emotional account was a therapeutic experience for him. “I’m interested in raising public awareness of childhood sexual assault, to let other victims know that they’re not alone,” he said. “For those who suffer in silence, I hope my story brings some comfort, strength, peace, and hope.”
The story of the abduction, beating and rape of a teenage boy from Lincoln, Rhode Island, followed by the unsolved brutal murder of his assailant in Providence, is now a moving novel written by the man who survived this vicious attack.
Men in My Town by Keith Smith. Available now at Amazon.com in Trade Paperback and Kindle. Email the author at MenInMyTown@aol.com
It’s a Crime. Murder and Mayhem in Fact and Fiction.
Ever wonder how writers get their ideas? Where does reality end and imagination begin? Meet six New Jersey suspense novelists as they share their stories, then join in on an “Ask the Author” discussion.
Keith Smith, Men in My Town 
Peggy Ehrhart, Sweet Man is Gone
J. J. Lair, Dream Dancing
Steve Rigolosi, Androgynous Murder House Party
Lee Barwood, A Dream of Drowned Hollow
Cheryl Solimini, Across the River
2 p.m., Saturday, October 24, Ocean County Library, Brick Branch, 301 Chambers Bridge Road, Brick, New Jersey. Call the library direct at (732) 477 4513.
The story of the abduction, beating and rape of a teenage boy from Lincoln, Rhode Island, followed by the unsolved brutal murder of his assailant in Providence, is now a moving novel written by the man who survived this vicious attack.
Men in My Town by Keith Smith. Available now at Amazon.com
Email the author at MenInMyTown@aol.com
In Honor of Chief Ernie Hart
One of the Men in My Town died today – Chief Ernie Hart, Chief of the Fairlawn-Lincoln Fire Department.
Chief was a good man. He taught us how to lay a few hundred feet of 3 inch hose in the bed of a pumper and was insistent about us properly rolling the 50 feet of green garden hose that laid between the bay doors.
When he caught guys washing their own cars at the fire station, he made them painstakingly hand wash the old Ward La France pumper until it was spotless.
He took local boys who weren’t old enough to smoke and gave them the courage to walk into smoke-filled buildings.
I’m pretty sure he never coached a sport, but he was more of a coach than any I ever played for and better than all of them. He coached dozens of us, 16 year-old kids and 50 year-old men, to work together as a team.
He taught us to work side-by-side so we could roll out of the station with 3 men on a truck; one to drive, one to dress the hydrant and one to slip on a Scott Air Pack and enter buildings.
He taught us the buddy-system; no one ever entered a burning building alone and it was up to each one of us to keep the other guy safe.
He was serious and professional on the scene of a fire and would entertain us with stories about drunks who feel asleep smoking and burnt their couch or the guy on Cobble Hill Road who put a garden hose in his chimney to put out a creosote fire in his fireplace.
When ten young women died in a dormitory fire during my freshman year at Providence College in 1977, Chief reached out to console me and my friends.
He was a friend to Duffy, Bones and Arthur; a mentor to me, David, Kevin, Tim, Greg and Russell; a husband to Barbara; and a father to Debbie, David, Brian, Bruce, Kevin, Craig and Maryann.
Fairlawn was a safer place because Ernie Hart was our Fire Department Chief.
Kids from Fairlawn grew up to be better men because Ernie Hart was their Chief.
My book, Men in My Town, is dedicated to ‘masked men and superhero’s, real and imagined.’ It’s dedicated to men in my town who enter burning buildings in life-offering, unselfish acts of bravery and kindness, real men, real-life heroes. It’s dedicated to Chief Ernie Hart and the firemen who were lucky enough to stand by his side.
Rest in Peace, my Chief and Thank You.
Ernest J. Hart, Jr. 1927 – 2009
The story of the abduction, beating and rape of a teenage boy from Lincoln, Rhode Island, followed by the unsolved brutal murder of his assailant in Providence, is now a moving novel written by the man who survived this vicious attack.
Men in My Town by Keith Smith. Available now at Amazon.com
Email the author at MenInMyTown@aol.com
Men in My Town at Princeton Book Festival
The Author! Author! Book Festival was a great success. Sponsored by Chicklet Books in Princeton, attended by more than 50 authors and a thousand guests, there was something for every book lover…author readings, book signings, author Q & A.
Keith at the Men in My Town table at Princeton’s Author! Author! Book Festival.
The story of the abduction, beating and rape of a teenage boy from Lincoln, Rhode Island, followed by the unsolved brutal murder of his assailant in Providence, is now a moving novel written by the man who survived this vicious attack. Men in My Town by Keith Smith. Available now at Amazon.com
Rhode Island Attorney Recommends Keith Smith’s “Men in My Town”
Keith Smith’s book is an intriguing, eye-opening tale of a brave young man determined to survive a life-changing night of abuse. It’s also an entertaining, accurate description of small-town Rhode Island, and how a tight-knit community might respond to one of its children being violated.
I commend Keith Smith for coming forward with his story, and would recommend “Men in My Town” to anyone interested in learning about a brave young man and his community’s emotion-filled response to the abuse.
- K. Godin, Providence -
The story of the abduction, beating and rape of a teenage boy from Lincoln, Rhode Island, followed by the unsolved brutal murder of his assailant in Providence, is now a moving novel written by the man who survived this vicious attack.
Men in My Town by Keith Smith. Available now at Amazon.com
Email the author at MenInMyTown@aol.com
A Conversation with Keith Smith, Author of Men in My Town
Q: Keith, I understand you’ve recently finished writing a book. Tell us about it.
A: The book is titled, Men in My Town. It’s a suspense novel based on the true story of the abduction, beating and sexual assault of a 14-year-old boy in Lincoln, Rhode Island in 1974 and the brutal unsolved murder of his attacker in Providence in 1975.
Q: What can you tell us without spoiling the plot for those who haven’t yet read the book?
A: The story focuses on the young boy’s relationship with a few men in his town, men who are close to the boy and his family, men who watch over him, men that protect him after he’s been assaulted. They’re good men with the capacity to do bad things. It’s a story that causes the reader to revisit their position on the question, “Does the end ever justify the means?” and vividly juxtaposes the good and evil that can exist simultaneously in every man.
Q: Why did you write Men in My Town?
A: There are a number of reasons. First, it’s a good story worth telling. It’s a gripping suspense novel with a storyline that includes characters based on real people, real places and real events. It’s a glimpse into the street hustle hiding in the peaceful suburbs of Providence, Rhode Island in the 1970’s, complete with gamblers, bookies, car thieves, petty criminals, organized crime, hard-working honest men and a murderer or two. Secondly, Men In My Town is my personal story. I am the 14-year-old boy in the story and only a few people, very few people, know what really happened to me on that cold winter night in 1974. I wrote Men in My Town to stop keeping this secret from the people closest to me, people I care about, people I love, my long-time friends and my family. And finally, I wrote the story to raise awareness of male sexual assault, to let other victims know that they’re not alone and to help victims of rape and violent crime understand that the emotion, fear and memories that may still haunt them are not uncommon to those of us who have shared a similar experience.
Q: Why did you wait 35 years to tell this story?
A: I’ve been silent because of shame and guilt. I was ashamed that a man sexually assaulted me. My guilt was based on wanting to protect my protectors, to eliminate the possibility that someday, someone would get arrested and perhaps go to jail for killing the guy for what he did to me. I’ve been fighting these thoughts, these feelings, these emotions, for decades and I’m finally able to properly deal with these things. I now realize that I shouldn’t feel ashamed or guilty because I’m not responsible for what my attacker did to me… and I’m not responsible for what others may have done to him.
Q: What makes Men in My Town unique?
A: It’s unique because it’s the only fact-based suspense novel that I’m aware of that deals with the subject of male sexual assault and the unsolved murder of the pedophile rapist. It’s unique because there aren’t many novels set in Rhode Island and this is the first novel ever set in the Town of Lincoln. Men in My Town is unique in that it helps people understand that violent crimes against children can occur anywhere, even in bucolic, beautiful, sleepy little suburban towns like Lincoln, Rhode Island.
Q: Are there other works, either books or movies, that you think are similar to Men in My Town?
A: Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River comes to mind. Mystic River opens with the abduction and sexual assault of a young boy from a tight knit, working class suburb of Boston. It deals with pedophilia, murder, secrets, average guys, cops and criminals. Michael Corrente’s movie Federal Hill, set in Providence, deals with relationships between close friends, organized crime and what I refer to as ‘street hustle.’ If you’re familiar with either Mystic River or Federal Hill, you may see similar themes in Men in My Town.
Q: How long did it take you to write this book?
A: The story has been with me since 1974 so I can actually say it took me 35 years to write this book. The actual writing, putting pen to paper, hammering out the story, revising drafts, took about 6 months; working with editors, literary agents and publishers took the project out to a full year.
Q: How did you write Men in My Town? What was your process?
A: I wrote this story inside out. I didn’t start by writing chapter one, page one. Instead, I listed the events that I wanted to write about, the places I wanted readers to visit, the characters I wanted readers to meet and the emotion I wanted readers to feel. I wrote sections one at a time capturing the events, places, characters and emotion, then pieced them together in a sequence that made the story whole, like a quilt.
Q: I understand you left Rhode Island in 1982. What do you miss about Rhode Island?
A: I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s in the Fairlawn section in the south end of Lincoln, 4 miles north of Providence. Everyone on my block knew my brothers, my sisters, my mom, my dad and me. People went to baseball games at the field in the fall, skated on the pond in the winter and lined up on Smithfield Avenue to watch the Memorial Day parade in the spring. There was a wonderful sense of community, security, peace. People sat on their porches and knew their neighbors. Neighbors watched out for one another, took care of each other. I miss that. I also miss coffee milk, clear chowda, clam cakes, great Italian food on Federal Hill and the beaches from Narragansett to Watch Hill.
Q: Well we’re glad you’re back in Rhode Island, at least for today. Keith, how do we get a copy of Men in My Town?
A: Men in My Town is available now on Amazon.com. You can pick up a copy of Men in My Town at all public libraries in Rhode Island and public libraries in Mercer County, New Jersey. If your local library doesn’t have a copy in their collection, they’ll typically order one after they receive a few requests, so please visit your local library and ask them to stock a copy or two. Signed copies are available. Just email your request to MenInMyTown@aol.com
Q: Thanks for being with us tonight.
A: It was my pleasure. Thank you for the opportunity to talk about Men in My Town.
Men in My Town by Keith Smith.
Available now at Amazon.com
Email the author at MenInMyTown@aol.com
RAINN Speakers Bureau to Participate in Post-Play Discussion at Planet Connections Theatre Festival in NYC
Keith Smith and Janelle Kuroiwa, members of the RAINN Speakers Bureau, will be participating in a post-play discussion of Hound on June 17 at 6 p.m. For information on RAINN please visit the Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network on the web at http://www.rainn.org
Hound, written by John Patrick Bray and directed by Rachel Klein, is on stage at the Planet Connections Theatre Festival, 440 Lafayette Street, NYC June 17th through the 25th. For more information on Hound and the Planet Connections Theatre Festival, please visit http://www.planetconnectionsfestivity.com/
The story of the abduction, beating and rape of a teenage boy, followed by the unsolved brutal murder of his assailant, is now a moving novel written by the man who survived this vicious attack. Men in My Town by Keith Smith. Available now at Amazon.com.
Email the author at MenInMyTown@aol.com
BookReview.com rates Men in My Town, “Very Good.” Cites novel as “Compelling storytelling… a rare, reassuring tale of vigilante justice.”
In 1974, a young man was abducted and raped by a total stranger. Using his wits, the boy is able to make identifying markings on his attacker’s car, and he memorizes the license plate, enabling the police to identify and arrest the man. One year later, the boy’s attacker is found brutally beaten and murdered, yet his murder is never solved. “Men in My Town” is based on the author’s own experiences, and blends together the author’s own account of the events that occurred, and fictional speculation of what may have happened to his attacker.
Compelling storytelling in the opening chapters draw in the reader and keeps the reader interested through the concluding chapters. Author Keith Smith describes the residents of Lincoln and their relationships to each other in elaborate detail to show how this network of men may have banded together to track down the attacker and arrange his murder. The interesting cast includes a bookie, gamblers, lawyers, and a tailor, all who may have played some role in the plan. The author also traces the attacker’s steps both before and after the rape, leading up to his murder, following him even through other attacks on young men. While the story often feels disjointed, one can imagine the difficulty involved in Smith revisiting the attack and trying to get inside the thoughts of his attacker.
“Men in My Town” tells a rare, reassuring tale of vigilante justice. While the authorities failed the author as a young man, pushing back the rapist’s trial gradually for over a year, the men of Lincoln stepped in to provide necessary resolution and relief.
Men in My Town by Keith Smith.
Available now at Amazon.com.
Email the author at MenInMyTown@aol.com
Men in My Town is Now Available in Rhode Island’s Public Libraries
Men in My Town is in inventory at the Lincoln Public Library, 145 Old River Road (next to the High School) and available statewide to over 50 libraries participating in the Ocean State Libraries Book Loan System. Stop by your public library today to check out your copy of Men in My Town.
The story of the abduction, beating and rape of a teenage boy from Lincoln, Rhode Island, followed by the unsolved brutal murder of his assailant in Providence, is now a moving novel written by the man who survived this vicious attack.
Men in My Town by Keith Smith. Available now at Amazon.com
Email the author at MenInMyTown@aol.com
