Peter Hessler Recounts Childhood Abuse by Columbia City Clerk Glenn Wood
In a New Yorker memoir, writer Peter Hessler details his experience as a paperboy for the Columbia Missourian in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and his abuse by Glenn Wood, the city clerk of Columbia, Missouri. Wood, a respected community figure and Scoutmaster, groomed Hessler with quarters and physical contact during his paper route. In May 1982, Wood was arrested for sodomy with a teenage boy on a school bus. He had admitted to abusing boys since 1938. Despite character witnesses including a former mayor, Wood was sentenced to ten years in prison by Judge Frank Conley. Hessler reflects on the guilt and confusion of childhood, the culture of victim-blaming, and the role of the Missourian as a teaching newspaper.
Key facts
- Peter Hessler delivered newspapers for the Columbia Missourian starting February 1, 1979.
- Glenn Wood was city clerk of Columbia, Missouri, and a volunteer with the Odd Fellows Lodge.
- Wood gave Hessler quarters and touched him inappropriately during the paper route.
- Wood was arrested on May 4, 1982, for sodomy with a teenage boy.
- Wood admitted to abusing boys since 1938, saying pedophilia was something he couldn't control.
- Judge Frank Conley sentenced Wood to ten years in prison for five counts of sodomy.
- Hessler's father asked if Wood had touched him, but Hessler denied it.
- The Columbia Missourian was a teaching newspaper published by the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
Entities
Artists
- Peter Hessler
- Amy Hessler
- Eric Neuner
- Paul Neuner
- Brian Fick
- Sam Abadir
- Joe Kopine
- Glenn Wood
- Dale Richardson
- John Schwabe
- Frank Conley
- H. Clyde Wilson Jr.
- James Kirkpatrick
- Thorstein Veblen
- Peter Kong-ming New
- Seymour Topping
- John Hinckley Jr.
Institutions
- Columbia Missourian
- Daily Tribune
- University of Missouri
- School of Journalism
- Odd Fellows Lodge
- Sigma Alpha Epsilon
- Phi Kappa Theta
- Rustman Bus Co.
- Baskin-Robbins
- Fantastic Sam's
- Playboy
- New Yorker
Locations
- Columbia
- Missouri
- United States
- Minnesota
- St. Louis
- Kansas City
- Boone County
- 110 South Garth Avenue
- 408 Thilly Avenue
- 504 Westmount Avenue
- 106 West Lathrop Road
- 703 Westmount Avenue
- Peace Park