Deborah Daulton ThibodeauThough her early years were profoundly traumatic, Deborah Daulton Thibodeau's biography may sound unremarkable: Born into a large, God-fearing Southern family; worked in emergency nursing for more than thirty years; married twice, with kids, grandkid, and pets.What's missing from this version of Deborah's bio is the very ground she covers in her memoir-in-verse, The Serpent's Tail: Her childhood spent in a religious cult. She details the years of mental, physical, and often sexualized abuse she suffered at the hands of Brother Leo Mercier and his followers, all bound by devoted adherence to "The Message" and the "Prophet of the Hour," Reverend William Marrion Branham. Like many post-war families, Ed and Bessie Daulton of Pulaski County, Kentucky, found purpose in Pentecostal revival. They moved out West to live in righteous seclusion and await the second coming of Christ, their twelve children in tow, including one-year-old Deborah and her twin sister, Esther. The Daultons landed in Prescott, Arizona, and lived happily for a few years. Soon Ed and Bessie's individual will and independent thoughts were subverted by Brother Leo Mercier, self-proclaimed "Servant of the Lord and Shepherd" of The Park, subverted any personal will or faith Ed and Bessie had. He wrested control over teaching and disciplining the children, and before long, the five youngest Daulton children were handed off to be raised by other cult members.When The Park split, the children had endured thirteen years of indoctrination and brutality, but they weren't out of the woods. The Daultons moved to Flagstaff but continued to attend a church within the religion, with continued fundamentalist expectations for women. Deborah, eager for an escape from this prescribed life, learned to compartmentalize post-traumatic night terrors and adjustment disorders, educated herself in secret, procuring books and hiding them, taking night classes. Before turning eighteen, Deborah stunned the family by taking a job as an ER Tech. She stunned them again by enrolling in college, and then, the ultimate betrayal, she dated and married a man outside the church. Esther never recovered from the trauma of their childhood. The last years of her life were full of conflict, and she self-medicated with alcohol. Cancer claimed her in 2013, but her childhood in The Park was the more accurate cause of death. Reeling from her twin's death, Deborah made the life-altering decision to write The Serpent's Tail. She desired, above all else, to give children of The Park, many who have suffered similar post-traumatic disorders and subsequent life events, the voice they never had, to pave the way for them to speak after 48 years of silence. Deborah left the ER to work with Veterans suffering from PTSD, moral injury, mental illness, alcoholism, and drug-induced psychosis. Today Deborah still lives and works in the Prescott Quad Cities area with her husband Ron, several of their adult children, and seven grandchildren, a great treasure she never believed she'd have as a child. They share their home with Puma, a very spoiled and rotund black cat. When they are not enjoying the local community and events or hiking the local trails, she and Ron look for new kayaking adventures. Read More Read Less