By Nyesha Stone
Cover of Paul Hunter’s book
As the 19th child out of 21, Paul Hunter felt neglected by his mother, who he said was more dedicated to her homeless shelter than her own family. Hunter said his mother, Louise Hunter, more commonly known as Mother Hunter, put on a persona as a super mom, but she was actually a negligent parent.
After being laid-off, Hunter went back to school and eventually wrote his book “No Love, No Charity: The Success of the 19th Child” back in September of 2012. The book is an autobiography based on Hunter’s experience of overcoming his traumas, downfalls and other childhood issues.
Hunter said he wrote the book not to talk down on his mother or family, but to expose the issues their family was dealing with in hopes of helping other families going through similar situations.
“It’s a family-friendly book that will help people be aware of dysfunctional issues that may occur in a family,” Hunter said about the relevance of his book.
In addition to his book, Hunter encourages families to go out and get help.
“My goal and vision is to help other people,” he said.
Recently, Hunter and a few of his siblings went on Face the Truth TV hosted by Vivica A. Fox to discuss his book and how his family felt about it.
His two sisters Liz and Bonnie Hunter were on the show and were both shocked when first reading the book because they felt their brother was attacking their mother.
“All she was supposed to do was bring us into the world,” Liz said about their mother. “She did the best she could do.” But Liz does admit her mother wasn’t an affectionate woman.
Liz said Hunter always had resentment growing up towards his mother because of the family’s size. It wasn’t always possible to get the love he wanted from his mother due to her shelter and the other twenty children. He blamed a lot of his adult issues on his mother, said Liz.
She would have preferred if he would’ve talked to the family about his feelings instead of writing a book.
“If you have a problem with someone in the family, sit down and talk about it,” she said.
During her time on the show with Hunter, she said it was a nice experience, but it made her relive all of their traumas from the past.
Hunter said it was a refreshing feeling being on the show because he was able to speak his truth, in front of his siblings’ faces.
“Overall it was a positive thing,” Hunter said about his experience on the show.
His other sister Bonnie was upset as well about the book at first. However, after being on the show, she felt the family grew closer than it has ever been. Hunter put everything out on the table with his book, so no one was able to hide behind their secrets, she said.
“At first I thought it was a hate book,” said Bonnie, but eventually she grew to understand it was Hunter’s way of dealing with his past. “Through it all, we [be]came a lot closer.”
Hunter and his siblings’ episode on Face the Truth Tv will air on February 15.