Hawthorne Books

From the Times Republican
T-R PHOTO BY MIKE DONAHEY

Frank Meeink, left, of Des Moines, is shown listening to Lee Bergen, of Marshalltown, after Meeink’s presentation at the Marshalltown Public Library Tuesday. Meeink, an author, public speaker and consultant, spoke to about 80 central Iowans about his life as a recovering skinhead in a program called “From Hatred to Harmony,” co-sponsored by the Friends of the Library, Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA, the Not In Our Town initiative and Iowa Humanities Board. Meeink, a South Philadelphia native, described his early childhood of neglect and abuse which eventually compelled him to join a skinhead gang and embrace a philosophy of hate against other races and religions. A prison sentence, his Jewish employer and the Oklahoma City bombing, reversed his beliefs. He authored “Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead,” and has since dedicated his life to doing good works and speaking out against bullying. Meeink also spoke to Marshalltown High School students and staff before and after his MPL presentation. He currently coaches a mixed-race roller hockey team in Des Moines and speaks throughout the United States about his troubled past and redemption.