"Cold sober, my dad can read the trail of another fighter's hooks and jabs as well as any Boy Scout can read a map. Of course, it had been a lot of years since my dad had really been sober. Still, I knew he wasn't going to buy, "It happened in hockey."

"John shoved me around a little," I admitted on my way in the door.

My dad eyed me suspiciously.

"It was nothing," I lied.

If I'd confessed the truth at that moment, my dad might have gone after John. I like to think he would have, if only I'd told him, but I didn't.

How in the he** could I tell my dad the truth? That every precious afternoon he'd ever let me have with him at the bar had been a total waste of his time? That I hadn't put even one of his lessons into practice to save my own a**? That I hadn't looked to see where somebody might be hiding? That I'd turned tail and run like a f***ing p***y? That I'd let John corner me? That I'd let John attack me with my own g*****n lamp? How in the f*** could I tell a 68th and Buist boy that his only son had let himself be a prisoner of war for nearly three years and a punching bag for two?

He took me down to the bar with him. Cha-Cha, Fat Mike, and the other guys sensed something was up; they left us alone in a corner booth. I sipped a Coke in silence while my dad worked his way to the bottom of a pitcher.

"So, youse wanna talk about it?" he finally asked me.

"No," I pouted.

"Okay." He started to get up from the booth.

"I can't believe she f***ing kicked me out instead of him."

I didn't expect much of a response from my dad, maybe not even any response at all. What could he say? He didn't know what John had really been doing to me. He didn't know John. He**, he barely even knew my mom. So I wasn't expecting him to give me some mind-blowing insight.

But he did.

"Son," he slurred. "She chose d**k over you.""

- Chapter Two, The Neo-Phyte

In prison he befriended men he used to think he hated, men of different races. Out of prison Meeink tried to rejoin his old skinhead pals, but couldn't bring himself to hate those he knew to be his friends. A Jewish doctor offered to get rid of his neo-nazi tattoos covering much of his body.

Behind bars, Frank began to question his hatred, thanks in large part to his African-American teammates on a prison football league. Shortly after being paroled, Frank defected from the white supremacy movement. The Oklahoma City bombing inspired him to try to stop the hatred he once had felt. He began speaking on behalf of the Anti-Defamation League and appeared on MTV and other national networks in his efforts to stop the hate.

In time, Frank partnered with the Philadelphia Flyers to launch an innovative hate prevention program called Harmony Through Hockey. He developed a similar program in Central Iowa. He is featured a film directed by Jessee Dylan with Desmond Tutu called "Reconcilliation", an independent film featuring Adrien Brody and Forrest Whitaker called "The Experiment", and appeared in a music video with Jamey Johnson called "High Cost of Living".

Frank has worked as director of fan development for American Hockey League teams. He has been on the national lecture circuit for nearly a decade, speaking to various groups on the topic of racial diversity and acceptance.

Here is a video of Frank as a guest with Katie Couric...

Philadelphia's Channel 6 Action News did an interview with Frank in October, 2010...