The Sin Warriors: Bringing A Dark, Dangerous Era To Life

Jacksonville,
FL – It doesn’t take much to destroy careers, pull families apart and
ruin lives. As author Julian Earl Farris states: “A mix of ignorance and
hatred, combined with an insatiable lust for power, will suffice.  And
in Florida, circa 1958, that unholy mix fermented in the Florida
Legislative Investigation Committee, a.k.a. the Johns Committee.”  

Family
bonds, created by blood and by choice, bring both acceptance and
redemption in Julian Farris’s new novel, The Sin Warriors (Lethe Press),
a drama that unfolds against a backdrop of bigotry and intolerance, and
based on actual events that follow a McCarthy-era demagogue who uses
the threat of Communism to persecute homosexuals and ruin the lives of
Florida college students and employees.  

“Using blackmail,
intimidation and coercion, the Johns Committee—led by segregationist
state senator Charley Eugene Johns—managed to ‘disappear’ more than 300
suspected homosexual students, faculty and administrators from Florida’s
public colleges, universities and schools,” says Farris.

The
author uses the treachery of that time to explore themes of
self-knowledge, love, loyalty and resilience. In The Sin Warriors,
echoes of the past come to life in the form of Billy Sloat, a small-town
Florida politician who climbs to statewide office over the backs of the
disenfranchised and disfavored. Exploiting the fears and mistrust of
his constituents, Sloat launches a McCarthy-era witch hunt targeting
gays and lesbians in academia under the premise that these “weak links”
could be used by communists to infiltrate schools and corrupt students. 
Caught in the maelstrom, student David Ashton, another product of small
town Florida, and his friends try to preserve their integrity and their
futures.

In rich detail, Farris recounts a coming-of-age story
in which families—the ones we’re born to and the ones we make for
ourselves—create the supports by which men and women stand or stumble.
As in the real Johns Committee scandal, while some characters in the
book fold under the oppression of Sloat and his henchmen, some carry
scars into the future, and others emerge sadder and stronger.    

Under
pressure from historians, in 1993 the archives of the Johns Committee
investigations and hearings were made public and redacted copies of the
documents can be found in the Florida State Archives. Before writing his
book, Farris spent months “combing those documents and interviewing
survivors of Florida’s gay purge.” As evidenced by the many rave
reviews, the result is a moving, entertaining read, but it also includes
a story that needs to be told.

Julian Farris earned an M. A. in
English and Humanities at Florida State University and later taught
humanities, became an avid sailor, environmentalist and animal rights
advocate. He resides in Jacksonville, Florida with his life partner and
two rescue cats. Julian is currently working on a second novel, Families
and Other Strangers.

For more information, please visit: www.julianearlfarris.com .

Available at fine bookstores and online outlets
The Sin Warriors by Julian E. Farris
Publisher: Lethe Press
ISBN-10: 1590212746
ISBN-13: 978-1590212745

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Trish Stevens

Jillian M. Sachtleben
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Office: (281) 333-3507
[email protected]
www.ascotmediagroup.com