David Berg

In 1968 David Berg’s brother, Alan, was murdered by Charles Harrelson, a notorious hit man and father of actor Woody Harrelson. Alan was only thirty-one when he disappeared; six months later his remains were found in a ditch in Texas. Run, Brother, Run: A Memoir of a Murder in My Family is Berg’s story of the murder.

From Berg's Q & A with Randy Dotinga for the Christian Science Monitor:

Q: You write about the influence of your father over the lives of you and your brother. What role did he play?

A: Machiavelli writes that the world conspires, usually in the form of a disapproving parent, to obscure our talents and gifts even from ourselves. The sooner you're able to shake that bond, the more likely you are to succeed.

Even up until the moment of his death, my brother Alan was still seeking his father's approval. He was smart and funny and a very capable guy and a great salesman, too, but he never understood that about himself. Up to the moment he was murdered, he was still seeking Dad's approval.

Q: What about you?

A: Somehow, I knew my father's approval was not worth winning.

Q: How did this tragedy affect you?

A: I know that I was ashamed of the way Alan died on some subconscious level, and I was ashamed of being ashamed. I think I poured all of that anger and embarrassment into...[read on]

--Marshal Zeringue