Helen,I watched your videos and can not believe that the guy who was going to write that Occk book,collected over 15,000 bucks and still no book! Geo *Note believe it,this has been going on since day one with people,this is from Cathy in 2008- This was a guy that even moved to Oakland County with his family,just after the murders happen,he had a large advance from a book publisher to write a book on the Oakland County Child Murders....Date:Thu, May 1, 2008 7:45 pm
Hi Helen--looks like I'm not going to get my copy of Weesner's book
today. I just thought I would give you the background on this book
as I know it. One of my brothers read this thing years ago, although
he could not remember the title or state for sure that it was written
by Weesner. He found it at my parents' house and read it and was
really upset with my parents for not telling him about it. My mom
said something like, well--it's about Mark Stebbins' case, not Tim's;
but my brother said that clearly it was an amalgamation of the two
(four) cases. I remember my brother telling me years ago that this
book had a very sympathetic portrayal of the killer and that this
upset my brother greatly. While I remember that part, I don't
remember that it was written by Weesner. I of course remembered
Weesner's name because the guy sent a letter of introduction to my
parents, along with questionnaires for us kids. My parents took the
approach of "well, if you want to do it, you can." I remember seeing
a copy of the questionnaire in my mom's belongings after she died.
It was a blank copy. God only knows what I wrote on the thing, or if
it was ever submitted to Weesner. I do remember distinctly that
there were questions that were about how I felt about the killer.
Jesus christ, how do you think a 17-year-old kid feels about the
killer after her world has been turned upside down and damaged
forever?! He mentioned some nuts in that recent interview that he
was curious about how the siblings would feel about this and how it
this is never examined and how it might be helpful to delve into it.
You know what I say to that? BULL CRAP. If you want to read a book
about how siblings get hosed in this situation, read The Empty Room:
Understanding Sibling Loss, by Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn. Weesner
smelled a "good," depressing/sorry tale when he came across it.
Let me just say this prior to my reading Weesner's novel. I can't
believe he shows up for HIS KID'S hockey tournament in the Detroit
area in 1977 and then decides to capitalize on the fear and agony of
all of Oakland County. He thinks it is such a "great" story (which
it is, the opportunist motherf**ker), that he moves his entire family
to Oakland County--the very scene of this horror, which had not been
resolved. He says in that interview that he spent something like
FIVE years researching this thing; yet, he remembers nothing "at this
fading time in his life." (Spare me; do you plan on "fading" at
73?
If the f**ker can be interviewed and respond cogently, he is
not fading. I don't know too many college professors--even ones who
are retired--who would describe their early 70's as a FADING time in
their lives.)
The interview also mentions that he had a 1,500 or so page
manuscript based on his factual research and interviews and that his
publisher ultimately convinced him to develop a NOVEL based on his
transcript. One could argue that this initial transcript smelled of
defamation; hence the "novel" approach.
Which brings me back to my brother. My brother said WAY BACK WHEN
that after reading this book, he felt like "how could a guy like this
who has done so much research come up with this story line?" In
other words, the guy put in mega-hours on this nuts; where did he
come up with what he came up with? I just assumed, because I could
not find a book by Weesner that referenced the OCCK, that the
fictionalized version had to be the book by Michael Parrott. I
thought Weesner just gave up after no suspect was arrested, because
according to my mom, this book was contingent on the guy(s) being
arrested. I assume that he would have then pulled out all the stops
on what the siblings thought of the suspect, etc. That was my
mistake in making assumptions about how he would proceed after all of
the time he had invested.
So, I am anxious to read Weesner's story, because it could contain a
story line--or parts thereof-- that he was pursuing as part of his
intensive research for a nonfiction account. I think all fiction
writers "use" their experiential stuff, but change it just enough to
avoid getting their ass sued.
Now, why do I feel so weird about this? Because in that interview
(you have a link to it posted on the site) he maintains that he "DID
know" about the OCCK crimes at one time, but it has somehow escaped
him. Oh really? Somebody with a KID or KIDS looks at all of this
stuff for FIVE years back in the day and then just forgets it? No
f**king way. He talked to somebody about something that couldn't be
proven, but that he felt was the bottom line. His publisher wouldn't
let him run with it, so it had to be completely fictionalized--new
setting, one victim not four, etc., etc. He has spent so much time
that he has to make some $$$$$$ out of it, so he goes for the novel,
which IF YOU ASK ME, HAS TO BE BASED ON THINGS HE UNCOVERED AS PART
OF HIS RESEARCH/INTERVIEWS that has basis in fact. Maybe not
"provable in court" fact, but the d**n most likely scenario.
Giving him the benefit of the doubt, perhaps this entire episode
does scare the nuts out of him and he regrets any involvement and
that's why he distances himself so much from everything OCCK. But I
no longer give people involved in the OCCK cases (in any way) the
benefit of the doubt. I think the f**ker talked to people who had
legit theories and who had been shut down by the task force. At a
minimum, the guy benefitted financially from the agony of others,
during a time when there were absolutely no answers regarding these
crimes. Upon rereading that relatively recent interview of him, I
think he is full of nuts. Let's see what his book has to offer.