Sidestepping the Pit: How I survived sexual assault without drugs, alcohol, or depression, and forgave my attacker

Suddenly, the hand that had been gently, but insistently guiding me forward clenched my shoulder with a viselike grip, and I was forced into a wooded area just beyond the church grounds. I had no way of knowing what was to come, but I whimpered, "I want to go home now." The man said nothing but took off his jacket and placed it on the ground in a clearing covered with a mixture of pine needles, moss, and leaves. What little light there was from the moon illuminated his features as he spoke words that burn in my brain to this day: "Lie down and do as I say," he whispered hoarsely, pulling a switchblade from his back pocket and unbuckling his belt. "If you scream, I'll cut your throat . . ." Knight Chamberlain was nine years old when he was raped and sodomized by a stranger in 1965. Fifty years later he wrote Sidestepping the Pit to understand how he rose above what could have been a life-crippling experience to cope with the loss of his innocence. Instead he became a happy optimist with no drug use, alcohol addiction or debilitating depression. Follow Knight's confounding, surprising, and ultimately life-affirming journey, which led him-over time-to forgive his attacker and find the courage to share his story and help others. Knight Chamberlain's writing and occasional photographs, have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, North Carolina), Associated Press, and Reuters International. He has been honored by The North Carolina Press Association, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and North Carolina Child Advocacy Institute. He received two Carolina Case Media Fellowships from UNC-Chapel Hill. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with his wife, Rose. He has two sons and a daughter. Sidestepping the Pit is his first published book.