The Orphans' Nine Commandments. This item is unavailable.The Orphans' Nine Commandments

When Roger Bechan was six, his mother packed his suitcase and told him they were going to Oklahoma City to visit an uncle. Instead, she took him to the Oklahoma Society for the Friendless, where he began a long journey through three orphanages and several foster homes. With all the color of the 1930s, this is a story of survival within an impersonal child-care system, a story filled with vivid characters, pathos, surprising humor, and the tenacity of a young boy who longs for a normal home and can't understand why his mother abandoned him or who his father is. No wonder he and his orphan friends omit the tenth commandment: to "honor your father and mother." As a teenager, the boy finds a home with a supportive couple in a small Oklahoma oil town. Roger Bechan becomes William Holman, who obtains degrees from two universities, marries and raises three sons, and becomes the youngest director of the San Francisco Public Library and an award-winning book designer. Late in life, he discovers the identity of his father - and a new family.

William Holman served as Head Librarian, Pan American University; Director of the Rosenberg Library in Galveston; Director of the San Francisco Library; and Professor, The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas. He is a mentor for the Orphan Foundation of America and has represented the group on national television.