Soliah: The Sara Jane Olson Story

The Last book on the Symbiones Liberation Army was written 20 years ago (Every Secret Thing, by Patricia Hearst, released in 1988 paperback as "Patty Hearst" in conjuction with the movie by the same name). Beyond this the books seemed to stop in mid to late 1970's so excluding Hearst's autobiography, the first book in a quarter century on the SLA. Opinions on the SLA and Hearst have often been politically charged with the strongest opinions often held by those who have limited knowlege of the subject.Sharon Darby Hendry, like myself, is a very long term Minnesota resident. We were both here back in the 1970's. Quite frankly, the SLA wasn't a significant Minnesota story in the 1970's. Even though I lived among the lefties in Dinkeytown all during the 1970's, and even though I had a loose connnection to SLA member Cammillia Hall I had to take a crash course in the SLA after the June 1999 arrest of Kathlenn Soliah here in Minnesota. I followed the case since the June 1999 Soliah arrest through my website ... reading more than a dozen old books on the SLA. Most are rare and unavailable so the first part of the book SoLiAh is a good primer on this era. It upsets the romantic view of the SLA by including the unpleasant realities, such as the assasination of Oakland's first Black School Superitendent Marcus Foster by the SLA, which, ironically, preached an anti-racism credo.The portion of SoLiAh dealing with the June 16, 1999 arrest and aftermath explained the dramatic events and they unfolded from a Minnesota perspective. With nine trial delays, at least five lawyer changes and the plea "flip-flops" the book had to follow events as they were unfolding. The last dramatic event was the January 2002 arrests in the Myrna Opsahl murder (the "Harris's" and Borton have since made bail, Soliah-Olson is serving time for the LA plea). Is they story and the book SoLiAh open ended?Absolutely! It looks like the Opsahl murder trial won't start before 2003 at the soonest. Has justice been done and will it be done? That is for the reader to decide but they can better ponder it with information and background on the case. The Opsahl murder was long considered unprosecutable even though it was obvious that the SLA did it. Just getting the January 2002 indictments is one of the greatest cold case revivals in modern history. Reading SoLiAh with an open mind will help the reader, especially those, not "there", or with a romantacized view of the old far left to understand it and to also understand the roots of the domestic terrorism threat facing the USA now....

Soliah captures the in-depth history of the 60's and 70's and wraps the story around Kathleen Soliah. It is difficult to understand how this woman could create a false identy for herself. Particularly because she lied to her three daughters about her name, age, and her deceitful past. She activily participated in the events of the SLA and should pay the price for her criminal actions. I would recommend this novel to the true-crime seekers and everyone who lived in this time era. Also, to the younger generation who are interested in the Patty Hearst / SLA saga.

What brings an obviously bright young woman to an obviously corrupt organization like the SLA and then, even more mysteriously, has her completely change her stripes and become, inexplicably, a soccor mom. Because Sarah Jane lived in my back yard, so to speak, I wanted to know who she was: the soccor mom or the terrorist. The book refused to answer that question for me, as it should, but rather than making judgements it told her story, using facts and the voices of people in Soliah/Olson's life. This book was better than a summer mystery and reads like a novel: I couldn't put it down. I heartily recommend the book.