Thoughts from someone who knew Theresa Duncan for 13 years

I'm working hard to offer you a fuller view of who the Wit was. One way of doing that is to feature comments from people who knew her or corresponded with her. Here's a heartbreaking post from a friend of Duncan's posted on his myspace page before Jeremy Blake's body was found. Also check out the pics of Duncan, Blake and this friend taken at Stag's Leap winery in the Napa Valley. A highlight from his post:

i have known theresa for 13 years
she was like an older sister to me
i was there the night she met jeremy
who became like an older brother to me
if you've read theresa's blog 'the wit of the staircase'
you'll know how erudite, witty and gorgeous her writing and thinking were
well, so too was she as a person
hyper-intelligent, hyper-beautiful, hyper-ambitious
not to mention generous and loyal: fiercely loyal
but she scared the hell out of some people with her sharp tongued rapier wit
i've seen so many people turn on her
i've seen so many people afraid of her
and i've seen how they harrassed her
literally to death

It seems this friend did not believe at the time of this post that Duncan could be paranoid or delusional, but rather that someone "harassed her to death." He alludes to having lived near St. Marks at the time of Duncan's death.

Questions:

1. Was he at the St. Marks fundraiser and if so, can he add more details on the exploding gas grill incident?
2. What can he tell us about Duncan-Blake's "collective vision"? How did that work? Were they psychic? Did they ever use their collective vision to help them score a parking spot in Manhattan? Any details on this subject would be appreciated. Those of who us haven't experienced collective vision with another human being are fascinated by the idea. And we're clearly missing out on a life-saving psychic phenomenom. (Note: I've not experienced collective vision with humans, but have experienced it with dogs. Somehow we're both drawn to the toilet bowl at the same instant. Weird how that happens.)
3. With so many people in Duncan-Blake's circle being pushed out, how did this friend manage to stay in? (How did he avoid being accused of ties with Co$?)
4. What evidence does this friend have of Duncan-Blake's harassment? (What did he see or observe with his own eyes.) Who does he think was behind the harassment?
5. If Theresa was "harassed to death" by someone, then that would be a crime, wouldn't it? Are police investigating? Has this friend gone to the police with any evidence that could implicate someone in Theresa's death? Does this friend fear for his own safety, since he was a close associate of Duncan's? What is he doing to seek justice on behalf of Theresa?
6. Why would people fear Duncan? What threat did she pose? If the threat was her wit and intelligence, should other smart, witty women be concerned? What advice would this friend give such women?

Insights from someone who corresponded with Duncan

Fulltilredhead has commented here in response to my post about why Duncan did not allow comments on her blog. Her insights merit being called out in a separate post. (Thanks Fulltiltredhead. Welcome to TDC--we hope you'll stick around.)

I sent TD an email saying I enjoyed her blog, maybe a year or so ago, and she responded. We had bits of conversation here and there after that, via email. I remember we talked about the print ad for Coomb's (sp?) fragrance, "Unforgiven." (We disagreed, but it was a good discussion that I think we both enjoyed.) Besides that, just random comments and observations, nothing personal.

I'm not sure it was that she didn't want fans posting, because she posted someone's comment that she was pretty. But I posted a few times to take issue with a point of view she'd expressed or represented, and my posts were censored out. She didn't like to be challenged in public. So rather than respond on her blog, I would email her, so the conversation would be private. She seemed to prefer that; she responded, anyway.

Except for the time that she and I were discussing her take on the boomers, and I busted her out. I had an intuition she was lying about her age, and, being born Dec. 1956, I was tired of her anti-boomer rants, which hurt my feelings. She responded to my email via reply email, and I wrote back again, arguing her response.

Next thing I know, she had published my private email to her on her blog, with a picture of someone flipping the bird, and her response email to me, slightly edited.

She never asked my permission to publish our private correspondence on her blog. She didn't give me an opportunity to edit what I'd written, while she took the opportunity to edit her reply email to me before she published it. She did not post my response to her reply, instead giving herself the last word. I emailed her I thought all of that was dirty pool. The next day, she sent me an invitation to some party in New York. I ignored it and deleted our correspondence.

Two people who knew Theresa Duncan speak out

A former boyfriend of Theresa Duncan’s has posted an “open letter to Kate Coe” on his blog, explaining how she “got it wrong” in her L.A. Weekly story. Duncanologists will appreciate reading his vigorous defense of Duncan.

In his letter, he addresses Monica Gesue’s (co-creator of Chop Suey) account (given in Coe’e L.A. Weekly story) of what went down at Magnet Interactive (where he, Duncan and Gesue worked) on the day that Duncan was fired:

Having been working at Magnet and dating Theresa at the time, the story you tell, which you refer to as Theresa’s “Shoo-fly Pie meltdown,” is very different from what I remember. What I do remember clearly is our shock when her partner, without Theresa's knowledge, requested a meeting with Magnet's owner and senior creative director where she made the wild accusation that the game Theresa had written was "racist." And I remember thinking how crazy that claim was, for I had read all the drafts of the game treatment. Indeed, Shoo-fly Pie was as sweet and whimsical as all of Theresa's other games would prove to be.

Why Monica did this is something for her to answer (I can only speculate), as she must have known that it would create an untenable work situation and precipitate a painful falling out between them. As for the other assertions made by her, I won't even dignify them with comment except to say they are so gossipy and malicious that they should have given you, as a reporter, pause about your source.

Gesue has responded in the comments section of his blog, writing:

I want to clarify what actually happened at Magnet. It may not be clear what I told Kate Coe because of the editing and limitations of space.

I had reservations about the "Shoo-Fly Pie" project. I didn't feel like I could talk to Theresa about it, because she was becoming increasingly hostile towards me, sometimes without provocation.

What follows is a riveting read--a detailed account of Gesue's recollection of that day and of their relationship since. Please go there and check it out for yourself.

Fishbowl L.A.'s Kate Coe shares insights on Duncan

Fishbowl L.A.'s Kate Coe, who's penned the most interesting piece on Duncan so far, has commented on this post of mine, taking issue with my suggestion that Duncan was a Hollywood wannabe.

Considering the extent of her knowledge on the subject, her response merits being called out in a separate post. Here is what she wrote (my response is in italics):

I don't agree--and I'm one of the journalists who wrote about her and her work. Duncan did create (working with others, credited or not) genuinely original and innovative work in CD-Roms and animated film (The History of Glamour is clever and smart and even a little touching).

I never meant to imply that Duncan was not genuinely talented at something. Note that I have not commented on either the CD-Roms (god that sounds so old school, doesn't it? so 20th century) or The History of Glamour. My main concern is with the blog, which was touted from the beginning as being this fabulous thing.

When she came to LA, Hollywood was busy scooping up ideas from a zillion different places, because the usual sources for movies weren't very good. But, CD-Roms were the perfect medium for small groups of creative and passionate people. Movies are the perfect medium for large groups of people who want to make money.

Good point . Which begs the question, though, why did she come to Hollywood? (If not to seek fame and fortune?) Perhaps I missed this somewhere. I'm starting to get dizzy from Duncan overload. (And I have only myself to blame.)

Duncan might seem like just a wanna-be, but compare her to Brett Ratner, and she's like Balenciaga to his Juicy Couture.

Point well taken. But, compare her to Ingmar Bergman (who died within weeks of her) and she is...Rachel Zoe to his Edith Head? I'm too lazy to check this out right now, but what's the word count on Bergman vs. Duncan in the L.A. times? The amount of glowing press Duncan has received in comparison to her body of work is just amazing.


She did try, with all her heart--she wrote the scripts and took the meetings and pitched great ideas. She wasn't just some poseur with a laptop at a Coffee Bean table.

I guess it depends on what you our definition of Hollywood wannabe is. Despite all the meetings she may have taken, Duncan was still on the outside looking in. In my book, that makes her a Hollywood wannabe.

She talked and wrote about people and ideas that most Hollywood types have never heard of and could care less about. Being too smart out here can shut you off from the main crowd very quickly.

Just because she was smarter than the average industry schmo doesn't necessarily make her brilliant.


I admit that I don't know what the Eureka! moment (if any existed) was when she and Blake decided that Beck's church was deliberately thwarting them. Her first agent told me, too late for my story, that he had many clients who blamed their lack of professional progress on various people or organizations (including but not limited to, the Church of L. Ron, the Republican party, the Democratic party, the NRA, the NFL, and parents whose kids went to Crossroads School).

I had not heard that before. This sheds some light on how incredibly tough and heartbreaking the industry can be, to the the point where desperation takes over. (Lana Clarkson—a blonde who also died needlessly at age 40—comes to mind.)


I was not part of her inner circle of friends, nor have I presented myself as such. But I did know her, and even when I thought she was embroidering a little or a lot, I liked her. She was funny as hell, very smart and more down to earth than her blog would present.

This blog does not mean to imply by its content or very existence that Duncan wasn't funny or smart, or that she wasn't a devoted friend or daughter, that she wasn't terrific company, etc. I've pretty much stuck to analyzing The Wit of the Staircase because so much praise was heaped on it from the moment she went missing.

But I love a mystery as much as the next person, and I was fascinated as the layers of the story peeled away, and I know that admission seems ghoulish, even for a journalist. I wish with all my heart that she and Jeremy had had a happier ending in NYC.

This story wouldn't be fascinating if it weren't for the fact that there are universal themes at its very core (about identity, creativity and career success, to name a few). I think it's safe to say that Duncanologists also wish this story didn't have a tragic ending. Thanks for uncovering some of the layers.