nt11777@scgvaxd.UUCP (Neal Thompson) (10/09/85)
In article <1972@hcrvax.UUCP> jims@hcrvax.UUCP (Jim Sullivan) writes: >. . . >The book is called _The_Dungeon_Master, by William Dear, and is about the >disappearance of one James Dallas Eggert (could have spelt that wrong). >JDE, you may remember, was the University of Michigan student who went >missing back in the late '70's. >. . . William Dear was a private investigator hired to find young Dallas. > >Dear eventually finds JDE (read the book, or mail me if you what to know), >although a year or so later, Dallas tries to kill himself again, and this >time succedes. > >I mention all this because not enough people know the real story. >This is the best example of D&D taking the fall when parents, teachers, >and friends fail. > >Jim Sullivan > >p.s. anyone out there that actually played in the tunnels beneath > UofM ? care to tell us about those games ? - jrs i agree that Dear's _The_Dungeon_Master_ is an excellent example of how D+D takes the blame for a bad homelife leading to suicide. if i may spoil a bit: at the beginning of the book you're convinced JDE is lost in those sub-UofM tunnels, but after the 'plot thickens' a few times, you arent sure if he's been kidnapped by some drug dealer (JDE knows how to manufacture many common and some custom drugs) or by gays (although under-age, JDE knows and frequents several tough-sounding gay hangouts), or has just run away (as he has several times in the past). throughout the book, JDE's mother is portrayed as a real mother-hen/high-pressure type who doesnt know about his drug-use, homosexuality, depressive lonliness, etc. needless to say, D+D was the least of JDE's problems yet it took most of the heat for his disappearance and later suicide. neal thompson