International Writers Inspiring Change presents: Teenage Runaway: Memoirs of a 1960s Hippy

One boy. One backpack. One shot at freedom.

In 1967, fifteen-year-old Ronald Schulz packed HIS bag, left a note on his dresser, and walked away from everything he knew–Family, friends, home, and life as he knew it.

Teenage Runaway–a gripping true story of rebellion, survival, and the desperate search for identity during one of America’s most explosive decades. Faced with bullies, broken family dynamics, and a school system that crushes individuality, Schulz chose the open road over obedience–and found a world far more dangerous and transformative than imaginable.

Raw, honest, and unforgettable, this memoir captures the spirit of a lost generation–and the high cost of finding your own way.

Perfect for fans of coming-of-age memoirs, counterculture history, and stories of real-life escape.

Reviews

Ronald Schulz’s Teenage Runaway is a visceral memoir that immerses readers in the turbulent 1960s through the eyes of a fifteen-year-old fugitive from conformity. Fleeing an oppressive home life, bullying, and a rigid school system in 1967, Schulz’s journey—equal parts rebellion and self-discovery—captures the era’s countercultural zeitgeist with unflinching honesty. Structured as a 45-chapter odyssey, the narrative spans two transformative years, from high school disillusionment to the haunting return of a Vietnam War casualty, his former tormentor. Schulz’s prose is raw and evocative, making this a standout in coming-of-age literature and counterculture history.

- Sarah Jensen

Our Review of Teenage Runaway: Memoirs of a 1960s Hippy

Teenage Runaway: Memoirs of a 1960s Hippy, by Ronald Schulz, is a window into the real life experiences of the author, pulling back the curtain, when, at the age of fifteen, he left home and headed south, toward New Orleans. The story is full of real-life adventures; from meeting and collaborating with hobos and homeless, to hooking up with those engaged in activities along darker roads, but all of it with a sense of innocent curiosity, adventure and an open mind about discovery. Schulz speaks to us through that window into his life, animating the very real sense of disassociation with the mediocrity that the younger generation of the 60's were challenged with, that feeling that there had to be more to life than the drudgery of a 9-5 career, a car, a house, a stereotypical but almost suffocating existence. This passage from the book embraces the mindset of the times, not just with Ronald, but clearly, with others who chose the Counter-Culture movement as their voice for change:

"How could I reconcile these people, my people, who'd brought me into this world and wanted to mold me into an adult like them, while every part of me want to resist and fight back against their influence."

The story is a slow-burn, but it is real, heartfelt, and speaks to us about a time in recent history where the seeds for change were planted by young minds and young souls who followed a different road.

Reviewed by International Writers Inspiring Change

Book Trailer

About the author

RONALD SCHULZ was born in 1952 in Chicago. He dropped out to explore the Sixties radical counterculture before hitchhiking across Europe and Africa on a roundabout Buddhist pilgrimage to Nepal. Now a semi-retired hobo and a new author writing his honest history of those tumultuous times. He hopes to honor the memory of departed friends before he too vanishes from this planet. He has taken advanced writing classes at the University of Washington and Hugo House. Ronald is a father of two and a grandfather of three, who believes in living life to the fullest, regardless of circumstances.

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