It was sad to see that Dominick Dunne passed away yesterday. His death was completely overshadowed in the media by the Memorial plans for Ted Kennedy.
How Ironic. DD stood carved a unique niche for himself as the voice of victims of the rich and powerful. The American culture is dominated by the cult of celebrity, but DD stood firmly with the forgotten victims; the ordinary people that gained attention only in their death at the hands of their famous killers, abusers, or miscreants.
Ted Kennedy was the opposite; a man who used his wealth and privileged upbringing to evade the penalties for the crimes that he committed. Mr. Kennedy was a man whose values were set at an early age when he was expelled from Harvard for a scheme to pay someone to take an exam in his name. Of course, he was excused later and returned to the school to get his degree. It set a pattern for his life, which included the callous murder of a young assistant; leaving her to die while he slept, showered and then consulted lawyers. Once again, his money and power enabled him to evade the penalties demanded for such conduct.
DD's life was shaped by a different incident. His cherished daughter was murdered at 22 by her ex-boyfriend who was given 3 years in jail for his crime. DD devoted his remaining life to insuring that someone remembered the victims of crimes, not just the famous perpetrators.
Maybe the worst you could say about DD was that he was celebrity obsessed. But his heart was on the right side of the ledger.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment