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Blue Genes Reader’s Guide

By Christopher Lukas

Blue Genes by Christopher Lukas

READERS GUIDE

Christopher (Kit) Lukas grew up in the shadow of tragedy, struggling to cope with a family legacy of mental illness. Raised in an era when children were often sheltered from the truth, he knew few details about his mother’s death (she killed herself)—only that the tender, loving woman who had cared for him was gone. Kit’s stoic father eventually remarried, shutting the door on a troubled past. Years later, Kit would try to piece together more of the story, attempting to understand what led his mother to become suicidal, and how her depression had affected those around her. He managed to find solace and hope in life, ultimately writing Silent Grief, an invaluable guide to surviving a loved one’s suicide. But Kit’s brother, the award-winning journalist J. Anthony Lukas, continually showed signs of the debilitating melancholia that had shrouded their mother. Despite a sterling career, including two Pulitzer Prizes (one for the now classic  Common Ground) Tony took his life in 1997, shortly before the publication of Big Trouble, a book that would go on to win acclaim.

Raising fundamental questions about the nature of family ties and the often fragile dance between despair and joy, Blue Genes is ultimately a profound meditation on healing. The questions and discussion topics that follow are intended to enhance your reading of Christopher Lukas’s memoir. We hope they will enrich your experience of this powerful work.

Questions and Topics for Discussion

1. What does Kit Lukas’s memoir demonstrate about the potential bonds between brothers? How does his relationship with Tony compare to the way you interact with your siblings?

2. What did those special childhood years with Elizabeth mean to both boys? What experiences were they able to savor because of their youth? What aspects of their life were made more painful because they were so young when she died?

3. Were you surprised to discover some of the treatments that were once administered to patients with Elizabeth’s condition? How did society’s response to conditions such as depression and bipolar disorder make the situation worse? Were there any benefits to these early-twentieth-century approaches?

4. What did Edwin teach his sons about becoming men, and about marriage?

5. What sense of family legacy did Missy provide to Kit and Tony? Who was the best source of maternal love for the boys after their mother’s death?

6. What was Aunt Judy’s role in the boys’ lives? How did they respond to her eccentricities and creativity, paired with her financial dependence on others? Who is the Aunt Judy in your family history?

7. As gifted writers, how did Kit and Tony view the world? What perceptive abilities and sensitivities did they possess as a result of their vocations? How might these recollections have unfolded if it had been written by Tony?

8. How has our understanding of children and parenting changed over the years? When you were growing up, were children permitted to grieve and participate in other realities of the adult world? Would Kit and Tony have led different lives if, as children, they had been able to speak honestly about the loss of their mother?

9. What accounts for the differences between Kit and Tony’s approaches to dating and marriage? To what degree were their personal lives shaped by nature versus nurture?

10. What was the role of psychoanalysis for Kit? What did he discover about himself and his family? What gave him the wisdom to seek help? What made him a good candidate for this type of therapy?

11. Slowly growing apart as they grew older, Kit and Tony faced competitiveness, misunderstandings, and frustration with each other. Did their shared history drive them apart, or was it the one constant that kept them together?

12. After his brother’s death, Kit contemplated many significant questions, captured in his book’s closing pages: How did he manage to survive while his brother did not? Was he his brother’s keeper? Discuss your reactions to these questions. Ultimately, how much control do we have over our destinies, and the destinies of those we love?

13. Did Kit Lukas’s recollections help you come to terms with tragedies in your own life? Are there unmentionable chapters in your family’s history? What would it take to discuss them openly, and to heal from the pain associated with those secrets?

14. What universal aspects of American culture and history are captured in this very personal true story? What makes Blue Genes unique compared to other memoirs of loss?


10 FAST FACTS ABOUT SUICIDE
1. Men take their own lives at nearly four times the rate of women. However, during their lifetime, women attempt suicide about two to three times as often as men.

2. In 2006, suicide was the eleventh leading cause of death for all ages; more than 33,000 suicides occurred in the United States, which is the equivalent of 91 suicides per day, and one suicide every sixteen minutes. Moreover, for every two homicides in the United States, three people die of suicide.

3. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 25- to 35-year olds, and the third leading cause of death among 15- to 24-year olds. Yet, suicide rates are highest among those aged 75 and older.

4. In 2008, 140 American soldiers committed suicide, breaking all previous suicide records in the military. In the first four months of 2009, 91 soldiers committed suicide. If this rate continues, by the end of the year more than 270 soldiers will have killed themselves.

5. The spring months of March, April and May have consistently shown to have the highest suicide rate. December and the holiday have actually been shown to be below average; some studies also suggest the season affects suicide rates more in rural areas.

6. Four out of five people who commit suicide have attempted to kill themselves at least once previously.

7. Suicide rates tend to reflect economic conditions. In the United States, suicide rates declined during the prosperous years after WWI and WWII, but rose during the Great Depression. Also, the rates tend to decrease during times of war.

8. Experts believe that early exposure to child abuse increases the likelihood that an adult will take their own life. Additionally, there is increasing evidence that individuals with a family history of suicide, especially children of parents who commit suicide, are at a higher risk to commit suicide themselves.

9. Divorced people are three times as likely to commit suicide as those who are married. Moreover, divorced and separated men are two and a half times more likely to commit suicide than married men; the same does not hold true for divorced and separated women.

10. The odds that potentially suicidal adolescents will kill themselves double when a gun is kept in the home.

About this Author

Christopher Lukas has worked as a writer, producer, and director in public and commercial television, and has won Emmy Awards for his programs. He is the author and coauthor of five books. Lukas lives near New York City, where he is continuing to make films, write books, and work as a film and stage actor.
 
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