If Loving You Is Wrong (55 page)
Read If Loving You Is Wrong Online
Authors: Gregg Olsen
Tags: #Biographies & Memoirs, #True Accounts, #True Crime, #Education & Reference, #Schools & Teaching, #Education Theory, #Classroom Management
“I never expected I'd be their mother,” she told a friend not long after her break-up with Steve. “But I did expect that I could help them in some way. They needed stability after what they'd gone through. No one can know what it was like for them to live with their mother being Mary Kay Letourneau. Don't get me wrong. They love her. They want to be with her. But those kids went through hell because of that love. Mary's lucky to have them. I was lucky to share them with her, even for a short time.”
I haven't heard from Mary since she misdialed my phone number two years ago. I hear from time to time how she's doing in prison.
Most of the principals have scattered to the winds. Secret Squirrel has moved out of state. John Schmitz died. Several Shorewood teachers have been reassigned to new schools. Bob Huff has fallen off the radar completely. Mary's groupies have retreated somewhat; the www.marykayletourneau site hasn't been updated in eons. Tony Hollick no longer calls from England to see what he can do to free the woman of his dreams. Others carry on as they always have. KIRO reporter Karen O'Leary continues to be the best in the business—digging deeper and bringing more real news into Seattle homes than just about anyone. Lawyer David Gehrke finds his way into the news every now and then, though not with the frequency of those heady days of
Oprah
and
Dateline
.
My daughter, a college student now, ran into a boy from Letourneau's infamous sixth-grade class on campus at Washington State University. The young man was put off by the Mary/Vili saga, but still adored his teacher.
“Ms. Letourneau was the best teacher I ever had,” he said.
Even though she's relished every bit of the spotlight, that's what Letourneau would want her supporters and detractors to know more than anything.
Gregg Olsen
Olalla, WA
February 2004
For more on the Letourneau case visit the author's Web site:
www.greggolsen.com
ALSO BY
GREGG OLSEN
(Nonfiction)
1.
Abandoned Prayers
2.
Bitter Almonds
3.
Mockingbird
4.
Cruel Deception
5.
Starvation Heights
6.
The Confessions of an American Black Widow
7.
Bitch on Wheels
8.
If Loving You is Wrong
9.
The Deep Dark
10.
A Twisted Faith
(Fiction)
1.
A Cold Dark Place
2.
A Wicked Snow
3.
Victim Six
4.
The Bone Box
5.
Heart of Ice
6.
Closer Than Blood
7.
Envy
8.
Betrayal
9.
The Fear Collector
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
BOOK I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
BOOK II
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
BOOK III
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
BOOK IV
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND NOTES
UPDATE: 2004