I Know My First Name Is Steven
I Know My First Name Is Steven is a book by Mike Echols, telling the story of Steven Stayner, a boy who was kidnapped at age 7 by Kenneth Parnell and raised as Parnell's son and unwilling sexual partner. The main focus of the book is the period just prior to, and just after the seven year period when Steven escaped from his captor with another boy, Timmy White.
Written as a "True Crime" novel, I Know My First Name Is Steven is a rather gritty account of the kidnapping and sexual assault of Steven and other boys by Parnell. The book certainly follows the pattern of material presented to support the hysteria of child molesters that was so prevelent in the early 90's and beyond.
History
Soon after the news reports of Steven's disappearance from Merced California in December 1972, Echols sent a card of sympathy to Steven's mother Kay, expressing his concern over the disappearance.
In early March 1980, Echols was coincidentally in San Francisco just two days after Steven had been returned to his parents home in Merced. On March 4th, Echols was visiting Fisherman's Wharf when he recognized Steven's parents who were in San Francisco after their appearance on ABC's Good Morning America. After taking a photo from afar, Echols introduced himself.
While in Colorado in 1984, Echols read the March 19th issue of Newsweek where Del and Kay Stayner expressed their displeasure with all of the offers from authors and media sources that had attempted to secure the rights to the familys story. ABC Television had originally gained the rights to the story in 1980, but the Stayner's had been displeased with the amount of fictionalization ABC wanted to present. Echols contacted them and a week later Del Stayner gave Echols the rights to his son's story.
"I told them who I was and what I wanted to do, and they were so tired of people being dishonest with them," Echols said. "They wanted somebody they could trust."
The book in manuscript form was purchased by Lorimar Telepictures and was adapted for a TV mini-series that aired on NBC in 1989, starring Corin Nemec as Steven. The mini-series also had replays on the Lifetime cable network for several years afterward.
The book was published in paperback form by Pinnacle Books in October 1991. Echols attracted criticism from people who said that Steven needed to heal and forget and that he wasn't being allowed to due to the publicity the book generated. Several people attacked his works, pointing to the garishly detailed sex scenes and calling them "dressed-up kiddie porn".
In 1999, Jody Stayner, Steven's widow, expressed her anger over the fact that Echols was updating the book to include a chapter on Cary Stayner who, at the time, had been arrested for the murders of 4 women. Jody also claimed that Echols had never completely honored the original financial arrangements he had agreed to.
Undeterred, Echols reportedly started work on a second edition of the book in 1989, which would have expanded on the sex scenes. He began interviewing Stayner again despite concerns from his parents and initial protests from Stayner himself, probing for detail and making him recount those seven years in hell. Information not sourced
Sources
- Article by Tim Bragg, Merced Sun-Star Staff Writer, August 6, 1999.
- I Know My First Name Is Steven ISBN 0786011041
