Welcome to Nobody Told Me.

I'm Laura Owens, and I'm Jan Black.

Our guest on this episode is Lacey Crawford, author of the new book, Notes on a Silencing, a Memoir, which is one of the most anticipated books of the year.

It's the story of Lacey's sexual assault as a teenager by two fellow students at the elite St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, which is one of the top boarding schools in the country.

The Washington Post calls the book a haunting exploration

of the systemic ways assault victims are ignored. Lacey, we thank you so very much for joining us.

I'm so happy to be here. Thank you. How would you describe what happened that night back in

October of 1990? Because I know you write that you had trouble even coming up

with a word or a phrase to describe what happened. Oh, sure. I didn't have any words for what

had happened to me the moment I was able to leave their room. I mean, the details are pretty widely

distributed in media now. People can, you know, click and find out what

it was that happened. But I think it was actually a very ordinary assault. I was a 15-year-old

girl. I received a phone call on the payphone in my boarding school dorm. This was long

before cell phones. From a student who is a senior, who was a very popular, prominent athlete,

who had a long-term girlfriend. They were one of those couples that as a younger student,

you sort of gazed at when they walked down the hall. You know, they would move sort of like

sharks and all the other fish would, you know, give them some space and then form up again

behind them. And I didn't understand

why he was calling me. I was flattered, but obviously it had nothing to do with, you know, romance.

Not, not, that's where that was headed, but he sounded like he's crying. And, uh, and he asked for my

help. And I was young enough and naive enough and sort of teenage enough to think, oh, I must have

something I can really help him with.

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