His Name Is Ron By The Goldman Family (with William and Marilyn Hoffer)

     In light of the recent parole of "alleged" murderer O.J Simpson, (yes, I know he was acquitted for that crime and he was in prison for something else, but come on. We all know he did it.)  I figured I would write a review of the book  His Name Is Ron by the Goldman Family and ghostwriters William and Marilyn Hoffer. The book doesn't pull punches with you emotionally. When you first begin reading the text, we enter the lives of the Goldman family on the day they found out that their beloved Son and brother Ron Goldman was murdered. Their recreation of their experience then and during the following months and years are heart-wrenching.
        Even without really getting a chance to know Ron Goldman at first, the opening pages are terribly hard to read. The sadness and horror of the moment translate so starkly to the page that I couldn't finish the first chapter in one sitting. It was rough medicine to take. All I could think while reading it is how much I wanted to reach through the book and hug the Goldman Family. Moments after Fred was notified of Ron's death, the image of the younger Goldman's face was flashed across television sets across the country. This filled Fred with a new horror- What if his daughter, Ron's sister Kim heard the news over the radio on her drive home from work? Luckily, that potential crisis was averted. But that didn't spare Kim or any of the other Goldman's from intense pain.
      Throughout the rest of the book, we are gradually introduced to the often secondary-in-the-media "friend-of-Nicole," Ron Goldman. We see him through family flashbacks and random stories that pop up through the book.  He was by no means a perfect guy, but he was a good guy.
  One story that stuck out to me was one about Ron when he worked at a home for people with cerebral palsy. He viewed them as human beings deserving of dignity. One day when he was taking some of the clientele out to eat at a fast food restaurant, the frustrated cashier couldn't understand one of the patients and asked Ron to relay the order. Ron looked at the guy, and said "She's right here. Why don't you ask her?"
     Through the book other stories of Ron Goldman come up. In moments where a random thing or song or place triggers a memory in any of their minds, we get to see just a little more of Ron Goldman. A man who lived, and was more than just the supplement to the O.J/Nicole story.
   We are treated to a Goldman-eye view of both the Criminal trial and the Civil trial. Both events are interesting to look at through their vantage point. One deeply frustrating, and one is affirming.
    Though this isn't written in any self-aggrandizing way, I've always thought the Goldmans, particularly Kim and Fred were the only real heroes of the O.J Simpson saga. When the unthinkable, "Not Guilty" verdict happened, they refused to leave well enough alone. Despite calls from ignorant folks with misplaced sympathies for the Goldmans to "leave O.J alone" they have been relentless in their pursuit of justice for Ron, and I think he would be extremely proud of their doggedness. A doggedness that they never violated any moral or ethical boundaries to maintain. (When you read the book, look for the part where Fred Goldman turns down an offer by a dubious gentleman to have O.J Simpson assassinated.)
      Some have made cute puns of their names, (Gold-diggers is the obvious one) to demean them. They claim, as the nickname indicates, that the Goldman family is only after money. Reading this book, I don't doubt for a minute that they would trade the Civil court award money for the resurrection of their lost loved one. I have nothing but respect for the Goldman family, and this book is interesting, heartbreaking, and eye-opening. Most of all, it's a loving tribute to a son and brother they lost too soon.



My only complaint about the book, is it tells of experiences of multiple people, who collaborated in the story but they chose to write the book from Fred Goldman's point of view. So it reads as if he knew the thoughts and inner-motivations of everybody involved. It gives him an omnipresent vibe that strikes me as a little bit... off.  Otherwise, I loved the book and recommend it. A-