Sunday, August 19, 2007

L.A. Times runs Theresa Duncan correction

The L.A. Times took its sweet time to run a correction on Duncan.

Double suicide: An article in the July 25 Calendar section about the suicides of artist Jeremy Blake and writer Theresa Duncan reported that Duncan graduated from the University of Michigan. A spokesperson for the university said Duncan was enrolled for a single semester in 1985 at the University of Michigan-Flint.
Hot damn! A single semester. That's balls. Did Duncanologist Kate Coe even know this?

10 comments:

Kate Coe said...

Yes, I did. I spoke with Joy Myers in the UMich press office who checked for me. She did attend Wayne State for a rather longer time. Again, lack of space (even online) makes it hard to put in every detail. Thus, the joy of the blog.

Anonymous said...

you realise the photo isn't Theresa with the cow...?

Monica Gensue is a shrinking violet.She says Theresa was mean to her...
Theresa was only one way to me...
cool,always yes,or don't lean against the wall,the wall is art.
I believe Theresa would be pleased about Duncanologist,Theresa Duncan Central-it's high praise, but I'd choose to have her and would trade days to get her back in the flesh,to hear that voice and laugh and Wit.
will there ever be such a thing about Katie Coe...? Don't think so.

Unknown said...

As I plan to outlive everyone, I'm not terribly concerned about it. (And who thinks that I've ever been called Katie? Strange.)

Gesue might have been a shrinking violet but her lawyer was made of sterner stuff, and after Duncan got a cease and desist letter, she stopped talking about Chop Suey.

It's possible to appreciate Theresa Duncan's many admirable qualities without disparaging those whose experiences of her were not so magical.

zipthwung said...

hey, just another circling buzzard here.

In kates article on TD, TD characterized as being overtly ambitious with adualistic us-them mentality - which, being a nebishy self-effacer, is an offensive charge, on the face of it.

But the evidence seemed a bit thin (the quote, taken in context could even be facetious, speculative, or just something TD found interesting).

Arte we to assume that her suicide killed the quantum cat?

In fact it seem like kate was trying to write an interesting article at the expense of philosophical grey area known as in depth analysis.

What of the metanarrative?

What was TD's psych profile? Is it unseemly to ask? Does it inflict pain on the survivors? Or is it part of the medicine that will help fellow travellers on the yellow brick road?

What bromides are slouching towards Bethlehem?

TD Finding a quote interesting or whatever is not in and of itself proof of rabid ambition - like on MSNBC program where they catch child predators with decoys - seems dangerously close to entrapment to me you know?

I mean we are talking about a fantasy world here right? Nobody thinks the entertaiment industry is real do they?

Anyone? Bueler?

zipthwung said...

also, you can learn a lot in a semester -thats half a year man. Lots of famous people are dropouts.

I blame the elitist diploma culture for the pressure to lie. And lots of people do, dont they?

Do we blame them?

(I have a diploma, I should send for a new copy and have it framed on my trophy wall right?)

Honestly, what is society coming to?

Unknown said...

As I posted on Fishbowl, it's not Duncan's fibbing on her resume that should be condemned, it's the lack of initiative at big city newspapers.

et in Arcadia ego Eve said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

Eve--feel free. Obviously you are way ahead on your research, so why not publish your findings? I'm only a freelancer and thus don't have a "newspaper" to call home.
I'm certainly not standing in the way of any other writers. Have you contacted the Newsweek reporter who's on the story? I'd heard that he had interviewed Anna G.

zipthwung said...

I thought it was a good article, written under deadline or whatever. Read pretty well anyways.

Did it accurately characterize Td? I dont know.

Does anyone really know anyone?

We all wear masks.

Any article that lionizes Theremy an perpetuates the myth of the tortured artist is going to get its ass kicked by my all seeing eye of truth. Its evil, and it flies. You hear that fact checking psycophants?

Ah but Im just an earpiece on the many many many tastefully pruned heads of the hydra!

Whats your ANGLE man?

As Al Pacino says in Carlito's way:

You're in trouble when you cant see the angles.

Aint that the truth. I dont even get paid to slander TD, and yet here I am buzzing like a buzzard.

SHit Im worse than a tapeworm.

I wish I was Gonzo. Pay me in coffee and Ritalin. DO it now.

et in Arcadia ego Eve said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.