You All Grow Up And Leave Me: A Memoir Of Teenage Obsession

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Synopsis

A highly unsettling blend of true crime and coming-of-age memoir— The Stranger Beside Me meets Prep—that presents an intimate and thought-provoking portrait of girlhood within Manhattan’s exclusive prep-school scene in the early 1990s, and a thoughtful meditation on adolescent obsession and the vulnerability of youth.

Piper Weiss was fourteen years old when her middle-aged tennis coach, Gary Wilensky, one of New York City’s most prestigious private instructors, killed himself after a failed attempt to kidnap one of his teenage students. In the aftermath, authorities discovered that this well-known figure among the Upper East Side tennis crowd was actually a frightening child predator who had built a secret torture chamber—a "Cabin of Horrors"—in his secluded rental in the Adirondacks.

Before the shocking scandal broke, Piper had been thrilled to be one of "Gary’s Girls." "Grandpa Gary," as he was known among his students, was different from other adults—he treated Piper like a grown-up, taking her to dinners, engaging in long intimate conversations with her, and sending her special valentines. As reporters swarmed her private community in the wake of Wilensky’s death, Piper learned that her mentor was a predator with a sordid history of child stalking and sexual fetish. But why did she still feel protective of Gary, and why was she disappointed that he hadn’t chosen her?

Now, twenty years later, Piper examines the event as both a teenage eyewitness and a dispassionate investigative reporter, hoping to understand and exorcise the childhood memories that haunt her to this day. Combining research, interviews, and personal records, You All Grow Up and Leave Me explores the psychological manipulation by child predators—their ability to charm their way into seemingly protected worlds—and the far-reaching effects their actions have on those who trust them most.

Chapters

  • 021 Girl-X Rated

    Duration: 05min
  • 022 Girl-Candy Man

    Duration: 10min
  • 023 Girl, Storm

    Duration: 11min
  • 024 Man, Storm

    Duration: 10min
  • 025 Girl-Breakup

    Duration: 05min
  • 026 Girl-Love Songs

    Duration: 03min
  • 027 Mothers, Fathers, Others

    Duration: 17min
  • 028 Collectors, Photographers, Stalkers

    Duration: 08min
  • 029 Detectives, Talk Show Hosts, Defenders

    Duration: 08min
  • 030 Man-New Home

    Duration: 05min
  • 031 Girl- New Friends

    Duration: 12min
  • 032 Girl-Man Trouble

    Duration: 01min
  • 033 Girl-Shame

    Duration: 06min
  • 034 Girl-Brave

    Duration: 05min
  • 035 Cutters

    Duration: 09min
  • 036 Old Friends

    Duration: 13min
  • 037 Man, Costume

    Duration: 06min
  • 038 Girl-Play

    Duration: 07min
  • 039 Girl-Man and Girl

    Duration: 06min
  • 040 Romantics

    Duration: 09min
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