Wheeling native returns home to sign anti-bullying book
Michael Anthony, a Wheeling native now making films in L.A., will be returning to the suburbs Saturday to sign copies of his book and screen part of his locally filmed documentary about bullying.
Anthony’s book, “anthology of anonymoUS: Volume 1,” is a collection of letters from people, some from the suburbs, describing their experiences being bullied.
The book springs from Anthony’s creation of The Anonymous Initiative, a nonprofit anti-bullying organization that encourages people of all ages and demographics to discuss their experiences with bullying and express themselves through art.
“We give people the opportunity to write an anonymous letter to us, giving them the voice to write down their feelings instead of just thinking about it,” Anthony, 31, said.
Within the first three months of launching the project, Anthony had received more than 1,000 letters from across the Chicago area and throughout the country.
The book, which features 99 letters, poems and messages, hits bookstores on Tuesday, Aug. 28.
Anthony grew up in Wheeling, where he said he was bullied for years for being gay. He came back to his hometown last summer to start filming a documentary on the subject and said he wasnt welcomed by his local church or school.
“For every slap in the face I’ve had, I’ve also had someone say ‘Thank you, you changed my life,’” he said. “That’s inspiration.”
The documentary Anthony made in Wheeling, “For Billy: The Movie”, is now in consideration for some major film festivals. The movie, he said, is different from the highly-publicized 2012 documentary “Bully,” because it takes a more clinical look at bullying, but also takes a much more upbeat, musical approach.
With his book of letters coming out next week, Anthony said he hopes it gets people talking about bullying and sharing their experiences.
“The whole point of the letters being anonymous is so you don’t pity the person. Not being able to see a name with the face makes people suddenly see the story about their own child or their own family,” he said.
Anthony will be signing copies of his book from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Indian Trails Public Library, 355 Schoenbeck Road in Wheeling. There also will be a live stage show at 2 p.m. featuring past and present Wheeling High School students reading the letters out loud. A soundtrack to accompany the book will be released Sept. 4 and a website about the book, www.iamanonymous.org, also launches Tuesday.
“You read these stories that are so varied and you realize that with every person the story is different, but the pain they feel is the same,” Anthony said. “What people really need to know is they’re not alone.”