tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5371904020164697258.post6230226180162823741..comments2024-03-28T03:12:12.079-05:00Comments on Northern Valley Beacon: Thank you, Susan KleboldDavid Newquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04937837001343753140noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5371904020164697258.post-30747924892673070862011-07-29T23:17:38.928-05:002011-07-29T23:17:38.928-05:00I am a teacher by profession and I am amazed at ho...I am a teacher by profession and I am amazed at how long you taught writing and literature. Cool!<br /><a href="http://www.radioundergroundrec.com/cheap-phentermine-37-5-without-prescription/" rel="nofollow">cheap phentermine 37.5 without prescription</a>sophiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10002089056435038890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5371904020164697258.post-11808287461875570892009-10-20T12:46:34.783-05:002009-10-20T12:46:34.783-05:00Thank you David, for that thoughtful take on Sue&#...Thank you David, for that thoughtful take on Sue's essay. <br /><br />You are right on the mark about kids' revelations to their parents. I have spent much of the past six months discussing Columbine on tour, on the radio, etc., and a staggering number of people still blame the parents, and can't understand how they "didn't know." I don't think they're really listening. Tom and Sue did know that Dylan had problems--they just didn't project those problems to mass murder. Who would? <br /><br />I'm happy to report that well over 90% of the people who have read my book tell me they have flipped their view of the parents. I don't take a stand on them either way in the book, but after readers see what they knew and what they were dealing with, most see it very differently.<br /><br />I thought Sue Klebold delivered a really powerful and candid essay, and I've been saddened though not surprised by some of the flack she has taken for it. I don't quite understand the desire to squeeze information out of someone that doesn't exist.Dave Cullenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07147629998855818290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5371904020164697258.post-20687252470305606732009-10-18T16:00:30.988-05:002009-10-18T16:00:30.988-05:00Kass makes points that have to be considered. Dav...Kass makes points that have to be considered. Dave Cullen reiterated his take last Sunday in Grand Rapids. He does not try to assign total blame to the parents, which seems to make most people feel better about what is going on with youth. He said, <br /><br />Harris, an outgoing, egomaniacal psychopath, wrote in his journal how he intended to segue from being a petty criminal to mass murderer.<br /><br />“Eric did it because he was a psychopath who had no empathy, no feelings, no regard for other people,” said Cullen, 48, who lives in Denver. “He was a rare, sadistic psychopath who enjoyed it.<br /><br />“It’s as simple and horrible as that.”<br /><br />Klebold, on the other hand, suffered from depression and low self-esteem. His journal chronicles his transition from going on a spiritual quest to profound hopelessness.<br /><br />They were not so much friends as criminal cohorts who fed off each other, said Cullen.<br /><br />“It’s not as if Eric and Dylan were of one mind,” he said. “That’s were we really go wrong. They were polar opposites and personalities who had vastly different motives.<br /><br />The aftermath of Columbine carries with it a timeless, didactic lesson, Cullen said.<br /><br />“We’ve got kids every month who are still planning Columbine style attacks,” said Cullen. “Parents are still terrified and still need to know (what to do).<br /><br />“We need to examine what really happened and what really causes these kids to go awry and start learning from that.”<br /><br />http://www.mlive.com/living/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/10/author_dave_cullen_explores_ho.htmlaVickihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03687070165352252812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5371904020164697258.post-17279003405373449542009-10-18T11:55:14.735-05:002009-10-18T11:55:14.735-05:00Denver Post
guest commentary
Klebold may not know...Denver Post <br />guest commentary<br />Klebold may not know what she knows<br /><br />By Jeff Kass<br /><br /><br />One of the most compelling questions after Columbine was, "Who are the parents?" Ten years later, it remains unanswered.<br /><br />This essay was also sad for the lack of new revelations and for the questions it didn't answer, including two of the most compelling and troubling statements the Klebolds have ever made about their son (statements that in both instances were also recanted).<br /><br />Some of the stories Klebold told are eerily similar to others that already have been reported. For example, Klebold tells of how Dylan's voice "sounded sharp" when he said goodbye the morning of the shootings, which has been widely recounted. And Klebold talks of a survey indicating that "83 percent of respondents said that the parents' failure to teach Dylan and Eric proper values played a major part in the Columbine killings."<br /><br />Yet in 2004, New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote a small piece after speaking with the Klebolds and noted, "(Dylan's father) Tom had in front of him the poll results, news stories and documents showing that 83 percent of Americans had believed the parents were partly to blame."<br /><br />One Klebold writing I have yet to fathom occurred over one year before Columbine when Eric and Dylan were busted for breaking into a van and sent to a juvenile diversion program. Their parents were required to fill out a questionnaire, and it is unclear which parent actually wrote the answers, but the writing for Dylan's parents appears feminine. When asked about their son the Klebolds wrote: "Dylan is introverted and has grown up isolated from those who are different in age, culture or other factors. He is often angry or sullen, and behaviors seem disrespectful to others. He seems intolerant of those in authority and intolerant of others." The parent then crossed out the phrase, "He seems intolerant of those in authority."<br /><br />On the day of Columbine police swarmed the Klebold and Harris houses. Among them was Lakewood officer Rollie Inskeep, who spoke with the Klebolds. "When asked about guns or explosives, she (Susan Klebold) stated that Dylan has always been fascinated by explosives and guns," Inskeep wrote in his report. "She stated that Dylan wore combat-looking boots and that he liked the look that he had established." Then, a familiar twist. "She then recanted her previous statement," Inskeep added, "and stated that Dylan did not really talk about explosives and guns but he just likes to have the look of the trench coat and boots."<br /><br />I was hoping to read more about those statements in Klebold's essay. Instead, I read this: "I Will Never Know Why." That's the title. And that may be true for Susan Klebold. But at the same time, she may not know what she knows. Her knowledge might help experts figure out the why — or at least a piece of it. If only she'd talk to them. Or us.<br /><br />Jeff Kass is the author of "Columbine: A True Crime Story; A Victim, the Killers and the Nation's Search for Answers (Ghost Road Press, April 2009).gmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14094059824216640956noreply@blogger.com