Kaycee Nicole Swenson was a tragic yet brave terminally ill young woman who won the hearts of throngs with her weblog describing her fight with cancer (her self description -"...creator of smiles and laughter, and i have a mischievous side that is nothing short of infectious." might seem a bit over the top, but hold on.) People sent her letters and gifts and prayers, alas to no avail, her Blogger of the Week status was of no help when the time came.
As it turned out, Kaycee was a fiction, created by a then-40 yr old woman named Debbie Swenson for her entertainment, as Big White Guy of current SARS fame explained at the time in full detail. Much gnashing of teeth and betrayal of trust and investigative work to uncover this on the part of bloggers.
And J.C. wrote about it. To decry the lies and deliberate manipulation of thousands? Well, no. To defend them:*
Seems to me Debbie Swenson was an artist using the tools at her disposal. She was a writer who wanted an audience, and she found a way to get one. Sure she lied a little -- have you never lied to get a job you really wanted? Did it even matter once it was clear that you could do a good job?
Everyone agrees that Debbie Swenson did a good job. Why should people feel cheated? Their emotions were real; their tears were real; the sense of hope they experienced was real. Was that not worth the unwilling suspension of disbelief?
this was when I stopped reading his column.
Fast forward a couple of years to the recent past (yesterday), Sacramento Bee, Diana Griego Erwin of "don't call people names" fame writes about - yes - online friend Dingbat Annie, who is nobly facing terminal lung cancer and has throngs of wellwishers who are heartbroken and are doing all sorts of good deeds for her.:
...Phil drove 512 miles round-trip from Topeka, Kan., to Aurora, Mo., in the Ozarks to pick up Annie's mother...Yet another started a campaign to make sure Annie received cards or packages from every state in the nation...Lobster dinners appeared at her door...[one person] started a "Tell Annie a Story" thread, suggesting tales related to the view from one's window. Already there are 46 posts...
And your response to this news? is it "how heartwarming, that people are coming together to care for someone like that"? and - if not - do you feel that you, and the world, are better or worse for it?
(of course, maybe she is another Kaycee, in which case I guess we should be thankful for the gift of cynicism.)
*This (added Oct 2004) could explain a lot: The Elements of Journalism,pp. 179-180:
For decades urban columnists...had found an eloquence in these places [of which they wrote] that many of their colleagues thought was part fiction...It was one of those unspoken dark alleys of the business.
