In the book review section of last Sunday's New York Times was an article about the book recently written by Sue Klebold about the massacre at Columbine and it's aftermath.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/bo...e-klebold.html

It is an article and book review worth reading.

It's hard to believe that Columbine happened 17 years ago just as it's hard to believe that the massacre at Virginia Tech happened over 8 years ago. Sadly, nobody has figured either one out yet. Worse still, these tragedies continue to occur.

Adam, my youngest is a student at Virginia Tech so I was just before looking at the webpage. I stumbled upon their "Remembrance" page and started reading the biographies of some of the people who were killed. How sad it is that these lives were taken.

Read the article about Sue Klebold's book, and think about what can be done to prevent this kind of thing from ever happening again.

 

I think it's pretty sad that she hasn't publicly said a word, but now that she has written a book she's suddenly willing to appear on TV and tear up about the tragedy.

 

I think your inference is she is doing this for profit.
You might be right.
I would simply say that there is no monetary award in the world that would pay me to carry what is suspect is the psychological and emotional burden of grief and guilt she has carried for the last 17 years.

First as a parent, she lost her teenage child.
Sometimes bad things happen to good people and the grief is awful.
Sometimes bad things happen to bad people and i suspect the grief is just as awful if not worse.

and then comes the agony of regret over what she should have done as a parent to prevent it.
what should she have seen or known. I'm not sure those questions ever go away and that's years after.

 

My father took his life 39 years ago and I still think about what I could have done to prevent it from happening. It never goes away.

 

Reading that summary I don't believe for a second that she has profit in mind. Life for her would probably have been a lot easier if her son had shot her too.

 

I've read that all the profits will go to Mental Health Charities

"Klebold will donate the profits from her book to charities devoted to mental health issues, her publisher said. "

From http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/12/us/sue...yer-interview/

 

Quite frankly, I think Sue Klebold's life must have been a living hell all of these years. I can't imagine how it must feel to be forever known as the mother of the killer. I can't imagine how it must feel to have everyone, including yourself, questioning what you did wrong in raising your son and how you could not have known what was going on. I can't imagine what it must be like to carry the guilt and blame for what your son did. And, don't forget that along with everything else, she too lost a son. And a marriage, and the world as she knew it.

No, I don't think she wrote the book for profit or fame. I think it might just have been to come to terms with the horror that has been her life for the last 17 years.

 

Well said.

 

Most psychological therapists recommend writing things down as a method of working through emotional/psychological issues. I suspect that's how it began. I feel a lot of sympathy for her.

 

Rob, I never thought she was doing it for fame. And you raise a good argument why the profit motive may not be correct.
No doubt it is a horrible thing she has to live with.