Left Behind!

In a world grown weary of wealthy elites and pretentious celebrities, this memoir from an ordinary but successful man is an inspiration and a delight. Mike Autry grew up in the working-class small city of Dayton, in Northern Kentucky. As a child, Mike suffered from undiagnosed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and a series of head injuries. At his local public school, he was held back and required to repeat grades three times. Consequently, he began to think of himself as the boy who would always be left behind. Autry dropped out of school at sixteen years of age, having completed the eighth grade. Mike refused to accept failure as his life story. As soon as he was of age, he joined the military and left the hard-drinking, working-class environment of Dayton to explore the world as a soldier. Expecting to see combat in Vietnam, he was selected for administrative work and stationed in France and the United Kingdom, where he had many bizarre and some memorable experiences. Following his tour of duty, Mike remained in England where he had success in retail store management. Returning to the States, he served as a police officer in Northern Kentucky during the wide-open Newport crime era and then had a rewarding career as a skilled factory worker at General Electric Aircraft Engines in Evendale, Ohio. He has been a thrice-married husband, father, and grandfather. Through dogged determination, matured native intelligence, and a little bit of good fortune, Autry overcame the challenges of his situation. Summoning an unusual degree of persistence and optimism, the boy that was left behind made something of himself and contributed to making a better world in the process. If you've ever felt inclined to cheer for an underdog, Left Behind! is the book for you. This is Mike's first book. He writes intelligently and sensitively about the problems that plague society in rust-belt states, including conflicts arising from class, race, and gender. His vivid style will engage readers eager to learn more about the struggles of schoolchildren, blue-collar workers, and small- town residents who feel they are being left behind in the fast-moving modern world of big business and big government.