New York — Walking into the famous CBGB nightclub, pointing out recognizable names on band posters among well kept graffiti, is like returning to CNN's Alisyn Camerota's past. One rock ‘n’ roll traveler wearing a Ramones T-shirt wanted to see where the foursome started, so the high-end garment store nearby retained some of those memorabilia. The room is far more polished than 40 years ago.
As is Camerota. Her latest visit isn't her only time travel. The Jersey girl wrote "Combat Love," a book about sex, substance abuse, parental abandonment, and brief homelessness before graduating high school, and the family she found with Shrapnel fans to help her recover.
Camerota stands for a photo under a “Joey Ramone Way” street sign outside the old club and recounts a cringe-worthy backstage meeting with the punk pioneers. I would tell people about my high school life and they would blanch, she said. “I thought everyone in the 1980s had my experiences... I imagine not everyone got in a car with skinheads or had many car accidents and had pals with drug and alcohol addiction.”
From ‘SEARCHING FOR BELONGING’ to Veteran Journalist Camerota, an only child, was 8 when her parents split. Her dad almost disappeared while her mom chased one failed romance after another, taking her to Washington for one. Their parents kept secrets that explained, if not excused, their behavior.
Alisyn stayed with friends in the West while her mom went to Pittsburgh in her junior year. She returned to New Jersey for her senior year of high school at another friend's house, but was forced out and slept in her car or on the beach until she found a boarder.
Despite her experiences, “I wasn’t really a wild child,” she remarked. “I sought belonging.” She wanted to be a TV newscaster since 15. She attended school and worked. After receiving a scholarship at American University, Camerota focused on her ambitions at a time when her peers were partying. She was already there.
Despite her experiences, “I wasn’t really a wild child,” she remarked. “I sought belonging.” She wanted to be a TV newscaster since 15. She attended school and worked. After receiving a scholarship at American University, Camerota focused on her ambitions at a time when her peers were partying. She was already there. The 57-year-old newswoman, who worked on “America’s Most Wanted,” Fox News Channel, and CNN, is married with three children and lives in a Connecticut suburb. But high school stayed with her.
“I had a lot of emotional loose ends,” she remarked. I lived in six houses in two years. I occasionally departed without saying goodbye and without closure. Writing helped me sort it chronologically. Some of these stories followed me, not plagued me, but demanded attention.”
She wrote "Combat Love" when her children were teens and worried about their opinions. "I sat them down a couple of times during writing and said, ‘Guys, you know the ’80s were different than it is now, right?’" “You know Mom had little supervision, right? You were helicopter-parented. I was the opposite.”
She thinks her twin children, who just started college, and her high school son are too busy to read the book. Others from her past weren't happy. She's still close with certain high school friends, and Camerota masked names for the story, but readers know who she's talking about.
Camerota regrets her treatment of ex-boyfriends, and contacting some was difficult. She felt that she was a survivor and ignored others' feelings. She took longer to find a solid relationship than to succeed professionally.
Camerota's mother, 84, lives in a nearby Connecticut town. Her father is dead. She considered making the stories public but struggled. The book recounts Camerota's painful chat regarding her resentments. “My mom asked me repeatedly over the past decade when I was writing this, ‘Can’t you wait until I’m dead?’” “I wanted her help and blessing. I told her, "Mom, I can tell my story." I lived it. Of course you are, she responded. But it's my tale too."
She wants the book to go beyond treatment. “Everyone has a survival story, and that can be a bridge,” she said. “This country has been divided for a long time, and I always sought a bridge. I suppose sharing our tales would show we have more in common.
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