Introduction

Tony and I are brothers across the stroboscopic echoes of the past: dissolving across black interludes into the next image, and the next, and the next, until all vestige of pure vision is destroyed. All that is left is memory, and we know how faulty that can be. Who Tony was is forever blurred by who I was and how I remember who I thought Tony was . . . He is dead, and I am alive—left to dwell on questions, and to seek the answers . . . Would I, too, end up killing myself? Was the legacy of self-destruction I would discover in my family too great for me to survive? If so, when would the pendulum swing? And, if it never did, why not? How could I—almost alone among my family—escape? —From Blue Genes This courageous, engrossing memoir explores the complex and shattering effects of a family legacy of depression and suicide on the author and his brother, the award-winning journalist, J. Anthony Lukas. Christopher (Kit) Lukas’s mother committed suicide when he was a boy. He and his brother, Tony, were not told how she died. No one spoke of the family’s history of depression and bipolar disorder. The legacy of guilt and grief haunted Kit and Tony throughout their lives. Both brothers achieved remarkable success, Tony as a gifted journalist, Kit as an accomplished television producer and director. After suffering bouts of depression, Kit was able to confront his family’s troubled past, drawing on his experience to write Silent Grief, an invaluable guide to surviving a loved one’s suicide. Tony forged a sterling career, eventually winning two Pulitzer Prizes, including one for the now-classic book Common Ground. But he never seemed to find the contentment Kit had attained; he remained creative, but depressed. In 1997, shortly before the publication of his acclaimed book, Big Trouble, Tony Lukas committed suicide. Blue Genes portrays the lives of two brothers who alternately locked horns and found solace in each other. Written with heartrending candor, it captures the devastation of this family legacy of depression, but it is also surprisingly uplifting, as it details the strength and hope that can provide a way of escaping its grasp. Blue Genes portrays the lives of two brothers who alternately locked horns and found solace in each other. Written with heartrending candor, it captures the devastation of this family legacy of depression, but it is also surprisingly uplifting, as it details the strength and hope that can provide a way of escaping its grasp.

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Excerpt

Chapter One


SOME PEOPLE ARE DISTURBED MOST by events that are unexpected.
For me, it has always been the half-awaited ones that carry the blow: the semiconscious fears that lurk behind closed eyes, the half-dropped pair of shoes, the what-ifs.

***

JUNE 5, 1997, 11:00 P.M.
Susan and I return home from a party. In an unusual show of activity, our answering machine has had eleven hang-ups and one message--from Linda, my sister-in-law.

"Christopher," she says, "can you call me, please."

Usually, no one calls me Christopher except strangers, but maybe Linda is echoing my brother, who sometimes calls me by my full name as a joke.

I make a mental note to call her tomorrow; it's too late tonight. I figure that she's probably planning a publication party for Tony, who has just finished his latest book, nine years in the writing.

The book before this one--Common Ground--resulted in his second Pulitzer Prize and dozens of other awards. One reporter called my brother "the best journalist of our generation." Another said he was "the patron saint of contemporary reporters." He has won numerous accolades for his reporting for the New York Times, has received honorary degrees for his deep analysis of crucial episodes in recent American history, and has been wined and dined by literati and academics alike. He is, in short, one of those remarkable men whose work received enormous respect and attention. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. What does Kit Lukas's memoir demonstrate about the potential bonds between brothers? How does his relationship with Tony compare to the way you interact with your siblings?
2. What did those special childhood years with Elizabeth mean to both boys? What experiences were they able to savor because of their youth? What aspects of their life were made more painful because they were so young when she died?
3. Were you surprised to discover some of the treatments that were once administered to patients with Elizabeth's condition? How did society's response to conditions such as depression and bipolar disorder make the situation worse? Were there any benefits to these early-twentieth-century approaches?
4. What did Edwin teach his sons about becoming men, and about marriage?
5. What sense of family legacy did Missy provide to Kit and Tony? Who was the best source of maternal love for the boys after their mother's death?
6. What was Aunt Judy's role in the boys' lives? How did they respond to her eccentricities and creativity, paired with her financial dependence on others? Who is the Aunt Judy in your family history?
7. As gifted writers, how did Kit and Tony view the world? What perceptive abilities and sensitivities did they possess as a result of their vocations? How might these recollections have unfolded if it had been written by Tony?
8. How has our understanding of children and parenting changed over the years? When you were growing up, were children permitted to grieve and participate in other realities of the adult world? Would Kit and Tony have led different lives if, as children, they had been able to speak honestly about the loss of their mother?
9. What accounts for the differences between Kit and Tony's approaches to dating and marriage? To what degree were their personal lives shaped by nature versus nurture?
10. What was the role of psychoanalysis for Kit? What did he discover about himself and his family? What gave him the wisdom to seek help? What made him a good candidate for this type of therapy?
11. Slowly growing apart as they grew older, Kit and Tony faced competitiveness, misunderstandings, and frustration with each other. Did their shared history drive them apart, or was it the one constant that kept them together?
12. After his brother's death, Kit contemplated many significant questions, captured in his book's closing pages: How did he manage to survive while his brother did not? Was he his brother's keeper? Discuss your reactions to these questions. Ultimately, how much control do we have over our destinies, and the destinies of those we love?
13. Did Kit Lukas's recollections help you come to terms with tragedies in your own life? Are there unmentionable chapters in your family's history? What would it take to discuss them openly, and to heal from the pain associated with those secrets?
14. What universal aspects of American culture and history are captured in this very personal true story? What makes Blue Genes unique compared to other memoirs of loss?

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