The underlying theme of his memoir, An Inheritance of Promise, is one of parental depression. And, the influences of prescription medication in the treatment of well-being. From the 1950s through the 1970s, a significant percentage of housewives were treated for depression with Valium and Librium... the Prozac of their time. These tranquilizers, overly prescribed then as now, have led to an epidemic of prescription addiction without consideration of their social implications.
The question we need to ask is, "What happens now to children and their futures in the wake of continued parental prescription drug abuse?" What happens now to the social adjustment of children now that antidepressants have become the preferred treatment option? The answer to the question can't be remedied until we examine what happened then... during the decade of the 1950s.
An Inheritance of Promise is a look inside at "what happened then" from the perspective of a child and his views on life. Although the experiences that led to Ernest's awareness are anecdotal, there is no denying the universal theme that kids need to be kids to someday become healthy adults.
Ernest DeZolt is an "Associate Professor Emeritus" of Sociology and Criminology with thirty-eight years of university teaching experience. Over this time, he has had the privilege of teaching in diverse educational settings across regional, community, state and Jesuit universities. His scholastic interests, though varied, converge around a better understanding of how life opportunities and experiences forge an identity that becomes the prism through which we see ourselves and the world.
Over the past two years, his writing interest has embraced literary non-fiction. His first manuscript is a memoir entitled, "An Inheritance of Promise." In this work, he takes the reader on an experience of the pain, disappointment, ambiguity, and ultimate joy of a childhood imposed-upon by depression. His upcoming work, "Love Letters to Promise," is a book of letters that he has written to people and situations dating back to childhood. Ernest DeZolt has called Northeastern Ohio home for most of his life except for a brief hiatus in Kentucky to complete graduate work. He currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio.
