Derf Backderf

For this event, Derf will answer questions on the Wex's Facebook page while signing copies of his new work. You can purchase your copy of the book and have Derf personalize it during the event by preordering it through the Wex Store.

Preorder your copy for Derf to sign now.

On May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard shot and killed unarmed college students protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State University. The event was burned into our national memory, including that of Backderf, who was 10-years-old at the time and who recalls seeing those same Guardsman patrolling his nearby hometown just days before the shooting. Using techniques similar to those employed in creating My Friend Dahmer(2012) and Trashed (2015), Backderf conducted extensive interviews and research to the explore the four young lives lost that day and the series of events that led up to the tragedy. It remains as relevant today as it was 50 years ago.