Farewell Dominick Dunne

NP usually does the obits around these parts, but seeing as how she's a little busy with a new life, I'll handle the depressing news.

Dominick Dunne died Wednesday of bladder cancer. I'll let Lisa Derrick at La Figa give the paens to his literary genius, since I've never actually read his books myself:

The first book I read of his was The Winners, a sequel to Joyce Haber's The Users, which Dunne tossed off as a work-for-hire while recovering from his brutal cocaine addiction and the end of his career as a film producer. After that, I devoured anything of his I could get my hands on. I will always regret seeing him in the lobby of the Chateau Marmont circa 1997 and not screwing up the courage to tell him what an influence he was on me.

Dunne's writing focused on high society and its crimes; and, despite the fear they would appear in one of his books, the wealthy embraced and lionized him--whispering secrets at dinner parties, slipping him their phone numbers so they could spill the tea on their "friends." The murder of Alfred Bloomingdale's mistress, Vicky Morgan, was transformed into the bestseller An Inconvenient Woman; the Ivan Boesky scandal became People Like Us; the same with his other novels, where the foibles and crimes of the rich were laid bare with grace and cutting charm. Based on the murder of teenager Martha Moxely, the novel Murder in Greenwich led to the conviction of Michael Skakel, a Kennedy cousin. Robert Kennedy, Jr. felt that Dunne had a personal vendetta against his family; so it is ironic, or perhaps fitting, that Dunne and Teddy Kennedy died just hours apart. I am sure Heaven's waiting room will be quite lively as they meet in line.

[snip]

Dunne's facility with words, his ability to get people to reveal themselves, to confide in him--from Adanan Khashoggi to Elizabeth Taylor, socialites and their household help--made him a consummate reporter -- as did his vision, intuition, and insight.

Yes, he made some huge errors because of his single-minded--some would say narrow minded--pro-victim, pro-prosecution ideology (Gary Condit sued Dunne over his writings on the death of intern Chandra Levy), but he chronicled the rich, their crimes, and their victims with verve, passion and lyricism in his articles. And in his novels he demonstrated you can tell a lot more truth with fiction--and not get sued.

He told a lot of truth without fiction, too. I used to regularly watch his Power, Privilege and Justice on CourtTV. He did have a passion for justice, brought on by the murder of his daughter, Dominique. And he had a flair for demystifying the upper crust without diminishing them. Those two things combined made for excellent viewing. In print or on screen, he was a storyteller through and through.

Dominick Dunne was one of the giants. You can read the story of his life here at the New England Times, and remember a remarkable author.