August 20th, 1958
“It was a sizzling-hot day in Farmington, New Mexico. The man who was about to be my father helped maneuver my mother’s wide frame into their ‘55 green Chevy, beads of sweat dripping from his brow. Mom, whose pregnant basketball belly was protruding from her white cotton shift, mumbled that she’d bake and die before they ever made it to the hospital. Her ruddy-faced husband of nine years shut the door, hurried to his side and floored the gas pedal. He gunned it down the deserted road without bothering to reply, the building tension as thick as the gathering smoke from their Lucky Strike cigarettes.” — Excerpt

Loose Cannons chronicles the colorful and dysfunctional Cannon Mormon dynasty. Written by debut author Diana Cannon Ragsdale, Loose Cannons provides an intimate look at life in Mormon-dominated Salt Lake City, with parents battling mental illness and the need to live up to their royal family name—at least to those on the outside. In reality Diana’s parents were smoking and drinking Mormon swingers who were ill-prepared for the responsibilities of parenting, though her mother birthed six children by the age of 29.

Diana was the rebellious outspoken daughter who often bore the brunt of her father’s rage and paranoia as he rose to fame as the county attorney ‘cleansing’ the city of criminals, filth, and immoral

behavior. That is until her genius—but psychologically unstable—father became embroiled in a public scandal of his own.

Deserted by their severely depressed mother at the age of six, Diana and her siblings had to learn to survive on their own. Sometimes that meant climbing out a window to dumpster dive for food or shoplifting at the local convenience store. And yet, this motley band of siblings did their best to make it through their parents’ multiple suicide attempts and trips to the psychiatric hospital (when the children were left without adult supervision). After her older brothers fell into the drug culture of the 1960s, Diana and her three sisters were left behind with their new, sanctimonious Mormon Church-going step-mother who also happened to be their aunt. Strict moral code and Mormon culture dominated their new household and reined in the earlier chaos, but Diana’s defiance persisted as did the parental abuse.

Diana found that escaping the Cannon home as an adult was far easier than escaping the pull of her Mormon faith. Her spiritual struggle continued through several disastrous marriages and affairs, culminating in the revelation of what it means to find what was lost and buried in order to live, love, and experience joy. Loose Cannons is the true story of a tough street kid, emotionally stunted as an adult, standing at the crossroads of religious fervor, mental illness, and family. And from there choosing a new way forward.