Tales From the Dork Side
by R.J. Fox
| Memoir
| Published 11-04-2017
Growing up is never easy. Growing up with bullies is even harder. And when you’re a skinny kid with no social skills, no athletic ability, and a speech impediment? You might as well be covered in bully bait. Bobby Fox was the boy eating alone in the cafeteria, playing alone at recess, and trying to stay away from the mean kids. But somehow, they always found him. And when they did, they tied him to a tree. Or tried to make him lick dog poop. Or got him in trouble with the police. But that didn’t stop Bobby. If he couldn’t play baseball, he’d make up his own version. If he didn’t have friends, he’d carry his pet Sea-Monkeys everywhere he went. And who wanted to play soccer at recess when there were holes to dig under the swings? No matter what the other kids said or did to him, Bobby always knew that someday, he’d be okay. His bullies didn’t defeat him. They simply gave him more to write about.
R.J. Fox grew up in Dearborn, Michigan. He’s an independent filmmaker, saxophonist, and English teacher. His short stories, essays, and poetry have been published in over thirty literary magazines. He is the author of Love & Vodka: My Surreal Adventures in Ukraine and the forthcoming Awaiting Identification. R.J. teaches in the Ann Arbor Public Schools, where he uses his own experiences to inspire his students to follow their dreams.