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Murder, She Wrote

At last I can tell you about the secret project. It began with something I wrote a year and half ago, that you’ll find here at this link, about the unsolved murder of Dr. Linda Goudey.

Last February, a producer at CBS News, Nancy Kramer, contacted me. Her program is 48 Hours|Mystery, which is on Saturday nights at 10. Nancy asked if I could help her research the Goudey story. I can’t take much credit for what happened next, because the extent of my involvement was telling Carol about Nancy’s request, and exchanging some follow-up messages.

By coincidence, the day before Ms. Kramer contacted me, I’d received a message from a woman who had spotted the same post. She ran a bulletin board about the now-defunct Boston Regional Medical Center, formerly New England Memorial Hospital. I replied to the woman and I gave her address to Nancy. I have no idea if anything came out of their correspondence. Two things I realized very quickly about Nancy Kramer are that she is a true professional in every way, and she is always working.

Carol and Nancy exchanged messages and they talked on the phone. Then Carol contacted some friends and former colleagues who she felt would be able to help. She also gave Nancy the name of a psychiatrist from the hospital who knew Dr. Goudey. He’s now a novelist, and is something of a regular on daytime TV, but I won’t name him because I don’t know if CBS used him as a source.

I was sworn to secrecy, that I wouldn’t blog anything about CBS producing a show on the Goudey murder. I agreed, and in a very nice gesture of thanks Nancy sent a DVD of a program she had produced about Walter Cronkite. I used it as the source for this Beatles-related post.

For a time it wasn’t certain the show would go into production, but then a couple of months ago there was a break in the case, when the primary “person of interest,” Goudey’s boyfriend Dr. Timothy Stryker, was arrested — not for the murder, but for perjury. This video is from New England Cable News.

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There’s more NECN video, including a 1997 interview with Stryker, at this link.

Yesterday, we received a gift box of fancy foods from CBS, with this note:

Note from CBS News

We’re pleased the show is now real, and is going to be aired. Linda Goudey was a highly respected physician, who happened to be in the same specialty as my oldest sister, high-risk obstetrics. I hope the show brings the case closer to being solved, and Goudey’s murderer, whoever that may be, will be brought to justice. Being involved to the extent we have been has been very exciting, and without this blog it wouldn’t have happened.

48 Hours|Mystery, Saturday, October 25, 10 pm ET, on CBS. Don’t miss it! If there’s a change in the schedule I’ll let you know.

Private profits, public losses

There are so many bottom lines to the credit crisis, but for myself the bottom line is we’re seeing what happens with an ideology of “the market rules, so don’t rule the market.” A friend wrote today, commenting on all of the government bail-outs:

I wish someone would point out that this means the GOP is moving toward a socialist model. When they rant and rave about the horrors of socialism (in medicine), they need to understand what they’re talking about.

Ex-actly. In the ultimate irony, extreme capitalism has led directly to socialism, literally overnight. Bush started his second term touting a plan to privatize Social Security, and he’s ending it nationalizing Wall Street. This is not a normal business cycle downturn. It’s the result of market manipulation and a lack of oversight.

As D.F. Rogers characterizes it, this is the real trickle-down effect. The profits are kept at the top, while the losses are passed down. McCain wants to leave the tax cuts in place for the richest 1% of Americans?? At least with this latest calamity there’s some outrage. With so much tax money being ponied up, we’d better be able to impose some tough regulations and restrictions without hearing even one peep of complaint from the brokers.

A TRILLION dollars for Iraq. HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS for Wall Street. Why would anyone vote for the old white guy and the monster hockey mom?

Jon Provost on CBS Early Show

Don’t miss Jon Provost tomorrow, on The Early Show. I’ll set my FiOS DVR for you, just in case. No need to guess when — 8:40 am ET on CBS.

If you want to get a real sense of what the social changes in America were like, going from the staid 50’s to the swinging 60’s, John’s fabulous autobiography, written with his wife Laurie Jacobson, Timmy’s In The Well, is the place to get it. You’ll also get to know a whole lot about Jon, including the good stuff about growing up in Hollywood.

Jon recently lent his name to the worthy cause called the New Child Actor’s Guild.

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On a personal note, Jon was very supportive and helpful not long ago with a difficult situation we were having next door. I’m happy to say we no longer have that problem. Thanks, Jon!