While I do admire Gwartney for writing the book and doing the interview, part of me wonders at her naivite. For her to never think that her daughter wasn't on hard drugs seems recklessly, willfully blind. Wilderness training sounds hilariously wrong, if it wasn't so sad.

I also find it very curious that both the older daughters do such non-intellectual work, as if they want nothing to do with any portion of their mother's world. I think Debra should have published her book even if they didn't approve or agree. They both sound very selfish.

Oh, get a grip. You're not slaughtering beeves nor curing cancer.

Cary has no clue. He must have photos of Joan and a Great Dane. Of course he would quit--he's never done a real day's work in his life. Ignore him.

So, your job is not all creative as you thought, but in fact, is answering the emails of irate customers. Chill. Systematically sort through the emails, figuring out which is urgent, holding and ignore.

Take a walk around the block.

Then, answer each as well as you can; shift as many as you can to your superior, and ignore the profane.

Get a copy of Constructive Living, by David K. Reynolds. And a t-shirt with Yoda on the front. You're not a go-getter, you're not a slacker--you're a person. Welcome to life.

I think this was a terribly brave act by Ann Bauer, esp. in light of her previous poetic essays about the magic of ASD. But who are these Salon readers who think that Down Syndrome and ASD are remotely similar? Not to mention the letter from the person who thinks that if only we listened more, these young people wouldn't be as enraged. Geeze.

After reading a little more, I do wonder why Bauer is only now admitting to her son's violence. Back when she was trying to get him a job, others felt uneasy about him:

"He couldn't hire Andrew, after all; the agency had refused to process the application. One of the screeners there was uncomfortable with my son: She had called him -- he apologized before saying the words -- "a potential liability."'

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/29/AR2006102900544.html

@calamine

Because the person who wrote

"Perhaps... and this is only a thought... the rage could be a result of just not being heard. Imagine..."

was sticking his/her fingers in his/her ears and singing lalalala. Bauer's son isn't enraged because no one sat down and talked to him, he's enraged because his brain chemistry is messed up. There's no hairpats and back-rubs that will cure him. Wise up.

A dancer with no impulse control is a dancer with bad knees and a short career. When will Cary stop writing out of his ass?

So, LW is bipolar, ADD, fucked up, and pleased with herself about it. If this letter was from a guy, Broadsheet would demand his real name and address and Joan would be chiming in.

Dave Cullen is obviously a sincere and dedicated reporter, but why did Joan Walsh devote so much of this interview to the debunking of the Misty story? Ultimately, who does the story hurt? Who profits by the "revelation"?

Her agenda comes through loud and clear with this phrase

" Christian-right stooge".

Walsh's bad taste mars Cullen's fine work.

How's the LW supposed to pay for massages, therapy and lingerie? I'd say she might think about going home, finding a job and getting on with her life. Yes, he's broken her heart, but she's not going to get him back by hanging around London, looking sad.

Distance might lend enchantment, or it might not, but at least she'll be within shouting distance of family and friends, and not at the mercy of British immigration.

She's quite the dramatic writer--maybe she should turn this into a multi-culti chick-lit novel. And then ask herself why she was willing to settle for so little.

Churchill wrote of the black dog. He took up bricklaying to distract himself from depression.

Cary must be gnashing his teeth over the success of the NY Times Proof blog, because nothing else could explain this series of "I"m drinking/he's drinking" columns.

http://proof.blogs.nytimes.com/?scp=1&sq=Proof&st=cse

Salon will never cut him loose, but could he scale back to once a week? Or never?

Forgive me if this has been covered, but if Ted Kennedy got his divorce/annulment today, rather than in 1982, would Salon feel the need to comment on it? Joe Kennedy II got an annulment after 12 years of marriage. Senator John Kerry got one after 12 years, too. So, movie-star marriages interest Salon more than political ones?

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/05/05/time/kennedys.html

There's an Editor's Choice letter (I typed Ediot, which is surely meaningful) tht suggests that this guy is the LW's "soulmate". What twaddle.

The LW made the guy up inside her head, and let him dwell rent-free for 12 years. (I hope this letter isn't about the Dog Whisperer.) The man he is today might have little or nothing to do with who he was at 25, and of course, bears no resemblance to the genius hunk she's been dreaming of.

Perhaps moving off the island will evict the fairytale guy from her brain. In any case, she might think about a trip, a new job, something to kick-start her own life. Of course, it's a lot easier to use her obsession as a convenient excuse as to why she hasn't had the life she wanted.

To paraphrase Don Henley--"He's not here, he's not coming, not in a million years."