Бывший техник психиатрической больницы из Юты опубликовал книгу о жизни своих друзей и работе в клинике под псевдонимом

AMMON — It was more than 25 years ago that Aaron Tolson of Ammon first put his thoughts down on paper, writing a book loosely based on the lives of childhood friends coupled with his years of experience working in a psychiatric hospital. “I have just had it around for family to read, and one day my wife said that it might help people if they can read about what happened,” Tolson said. As he thought about that conversation last summer, he also realized his 40th high school reunion was coming up in 2026. He started revising the book, updating it and decided to publish it himself. “Landing in the Wasatch Cuckoo’s Nest: Happy Crazy Valley” was released earlier this month on Amazon, but if you decide to look, don’t be surprised when you don’t see Tolson’s name because he used a pen name, Joe Kennedy. The book is about real people and the path that some of their lives took, including bouts with mental illness and time in prison. “These are kids I knew growing up in the Utah Valley,” Tolson said. “Some things go wrong. These are based on kids I knew.” To protect them, he didn’t use any of their real names, and said some of the characters in the book are composites of people he grew up with. Taking it a step further, he decided to use a pen name. The pen name he chose was also an effort to honor his grandfather Joe, who was placed in an orphanage and eventually had his last name changed. It was originally Kennedy. Tolson was attending Brigham Young University in 1990 when he got a job working in the kitchen of a psychiatric hospital. Part of his job included bringing food to some of the patients, requiring him to interact with them. “Someone told me I was always pretty happy and they needed people like me working in psychiatry,” Tolson said. So he gave it a shot, getting a job as a psychiatric technician at the hospital. The position included caring for the patients, ensuring unit safety and assisting with daily living activities for the patients. He eventually became certified in handling acute, or crisis situations as well. While Tolson understands the serious nature of mental illness, especially in crisis situations, he said that like any workplace, humor can also be found. Some of that is incorporated into his book. “It’s just a funny look at the challenges of life that come at people and trying to find humor in these horrible situations,” he said. “Just trying to make peace with life when things have gone wrong.” Tolson said his hope is that the book finds its way into the hands of people who can both appreciate the humor and the insider perspective from someone who worked in the psychiatric unit. Tolson spent nine years working in psychiatry but eventually earned his law degree and went to work as an attorney in Idaho Falls. He is in the early stages of fleshing out a second book; this one will be “about the craziness of the law profession,” but he said that it will be a while before that one comes out.