tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7313130055534395503.post2892521125827696015..comments2023-09-17T06:13:58.403-04:00Comments on Unshakeable Hope: INTERVIEW WITH DAVE CULLEN: AUTHOR OF COLUMBINEHeidi Willishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18420802651029097379noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7313130055534395503.post-3668751274432528212009-08-24T16:28:59.111-04:002009-08-24T16:28:59.111-04:00Thanks, Heidi. You did a great job. I really enjoy...Thanks, Heidi. You did a great job. I really enjoyed doing the interview. Great questions, and very nice of you to read the other interviews first to see what had been asked and not asked. I wish we could have kept talking. (I did make it to my plane on time--barely.)<br /><br />Sorry for being slow to get here. I got back from that family reunion really backed up.<br /><br />Thanks for the link to the Dart Center. They do great work for victims of trauma and the journos who cover it.<br /><br />And thanks for all the really nice comments. Some of you may be interested in an essay I did for Borders this spring about my second bout with PTSD in 2006, how it affected me, and the writing--and what it forced me to face about Dylan.<br /><br />http://www.borders.com/online/store/ArticleView_cullen?cmpid=SL_20090407_NRDave Cullenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07147629998855818290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7313130055534395503.post-78053627934320172092009-08-20T15:15:13.952-04:002009-08-20T15:15:13.952-04:00Great interview, Heidi! This book is my top read f...Great interview, Heidi! This book is my top read for the year and I've become a huge Cullen fan. Great job!Hugh Howeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16106547829426968842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7313130055534395503.post-89981418361566329022009-08-20T12:31:46.423-04:002009-08-20T12:31:46.423-04:00Really awesome interview, Heidi. I think it will ...Really awesome interview, Heidi. I think it will continue to draw comments over time. I doubt that there are too many other national tragedies that have had such a far reaching effect as Columbine. <br /><br />Although I never have thought about it until now, it seems to me it's changed a number of things in our schools--the way schools handle disputes between students, as one example. There's a lot more awareness of the difficulties kids have growing up and interacting with their peers.marsh to the forehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11077038843846480659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7313130055534395503.post-76558388222804233092009-08-20T12:03:47.405-04:002009-08-20T12:03:47.405-04:00wow this was awesome. he really immersed himself.wow this was awesome. he really immersed himself.Shelli (srjohannes)https://www.blogger.com/profile/17123227845032402600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7313130055534395503.post-91752601612917635982009-08-19T21:45:42.984-04:002009-08-19T21:45:42.984-04:00Informative, but most of all, sensitively done.
I...Informative, but most of all, sensitively done.<br /><br />I always wondered how a writer/reporter would deal with the awful stuff they write about. This has been an interesting look at the emotional toll and how they deal with it.<br /><br />Thanks for putting the work in.Heidi Yantzihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17030476894610426776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7313130055534395503.post-18107728448313961712009-08-19T13:08:12.124-04:002009-08-19T13:08:12.124-04:00Excellent, compelling review Heidi. I never really...Excellent, compelling review Heidi. I never really thought about writers and reporters experiencing PTSD the same way police officers or firemen would, but it makes sense. When you cover a tragedy with so much carnage and human loss, it has an impact. <br /><br />Very interesting also to hear Mr. Cullen´s description of how he constructed the book and was able to manage the numerous plots and storylines.Erin Halmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07584312224466861563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7313130055534395503.post-71607599107896451932009-08-19T11:47:21.910-04:002009-08-19T11:47:21.910-04:00Anon: I have not read or heard of Mr. Kass's w...Anon: I have not read or heard of Mr. Kass's writing, and I'm always glad to hear of new books.<br /><br />I'm not sure what the point of the comment was - to simply make us aware of another book or to somehow demean Mr. Cullen's? <br /><br />I'll take it that you are just encouraging and getting out the word on another book, to which I say, Good for You!<br /><br />It is so true that many books live and die by the exposure they get, and the marketing their publisher is able to put into them. Mr Kass perhaps got the short end of the stick on that one, and hopefully it is a well-written book that will gain ground with good word of mouth and review.<br /><br />In a tragedy such a Columbine, with the amount of people involved, the extensive materials available, it is probably true also that no one book could cover it all. As Mr. Cullen said in the interview, his published book is less than half the size of the first manuscript he finished. <br /><br />Hopefully the more books, the more light shed on this situation - as long as they don't heroize the killers - can only be a good thing.Heidi Willishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18420802651029097379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7313130055534395503.post-50990097803546685502009-08-19T11:37:01.803-04:002009-08-19T11:37:01.803-04:00On Nov. 21, 2008, the Harris and Klebold parents w...On Nov. 21, 2008, the Harris and Klebold parents were sent the same letter requesting cooperation. "Your stories have yet to be fully told, and I view your help as an issue of historical significance," it said. "In 10 years, there have been no major, mainstream books on Columbine. This will be the first, and it may be the only one." The letter came not from Mr. Cullen but from Jeff Kass, whose Columbine: A True Crime Story, published by the small Ghost Road Press, preceded Columbine by a couple of weeks.<br /><br />"Mr. Kass, whose tough account is made even sadder by the demise of The Rocky Mountain News in which his Columbine coverage appeared, has also delivered an intensive Columbine overview. Some of the issues he raises and information he digs up go unnoticed by Mr. Cullen." --Janet Maslin, New York Times <br /><br />"A decade after the most dramatic school massacre in American history, Jeff Kass applies his considerable reporting talents to exploring the mystery of how two teens could have planned and carried out such gruesome acts without their own family and best friends knowing about it. Actually, there were important clues, but they were missed or downgraded both by those who knew the boys best and by public officials who came in contact with them. An engrossing and cautionary tale for everyone who cares about how to prevent kids from going bad." -----Ted Gest, President, Criminal Justice Journalists<br /><br />GM DavisAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7313130055534395503.post-20374584913763074072009-08-19T11:21:24.983-04:002009-08-19T11:21:24.983-04:00Great interview. I remember watching that tragedy ...Great interview. I remember watching that tragedy unfold and how sad it was. What I find interesting is that it has almost made me calloused to other tragedies of the same nature.<br /><br />I'll be reading this book.Pattihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00685341739870191402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7313130055534395503.post-20478363523568817162009-08-19T08:59:04.548-04:002009-08-19T08:59:04.548-04:00Amazing job Heidi! I love this interview.
I'v...Amazing job Heidi! I love this interview.<br /><br />I've been wanting to read this book and have always said, "One day." I'll be picking this baby up this weekend. <br /><br />I did not know he dealt with PTSD, but I can see why, being involved in it, experiencing it and writing it. <br /><br />Great job!Brithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04161250727510052519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7313130055534395503.post-5884967095027949792009-08-19T02:40:39.405-04:002009-08-19T02:40:39.405-04:00Such an incredible interview. It's interesting...Such an incredible interview. It's interesting to see how he approached the book, how much thought he put into it. I especially like how he compared to studying the killers to studying a disease.Kerrihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13123599839884840143noreply@blogger.com