Produced by the I-Lab at W-B-U-R Boston.

This is Kind World from W-B-U-R.

44-year-old Jen Carson has an unusually good memory of her childhood, but then again her

childhood was unusual by any standard. It started off in a typical suburb in Phoenix, Arizona.

Mom was a teacher.

Dad, she says, was a hippie stay-at-home father who occasionally dealt pot,

and he was incredibly attentive.

He'd brush my hair and feed me breakfast every morning.

He'd read to me, take me to the petting zoo.

But, you know, there were always signs of problems.

Her mother, Lynn Carson, knew something was wrong

when her husband James Carson began violently threatening anyone who upset him,

including her.

The first few times he said it, she didn't believe in. who upset him, including her.

The first few times he said it, she didn't believe him.

The second few times he said it and then he got a gun.

In 1979, when Jen was five years old, her parents divorced after a decade of marriage.

Shortly after, James Carson remarried and changed his name to Michael Bear Carson.

And then the problems got worse.

Jen's first visit to her father and stepmother's house

is etched in her memory.

There was no furniture and no lamps.

...