Pt. 1 - The Curious Chase
May 27th, 2007 by Jane Devin
It was a quarter that caused the battle of wills that day. On one side, my de facto father, “the Chief”, determined to teach me something if not a lesson, and on the other a nine year old me, intent on making it to the 1:00 movie matinee. We struck a deal. I would wash his car and, if done to his satisfaction, I would receive the quarter I was short.
It was a summer day but still chilly at six a.m., when I gathered my supplies and set my work. By nine, I surveyed the car, washed, dried, vacuumed, and litter-free and decided it was passable. I ran in the house to get the Chief for inspection.
No, he said, and then no again. The movie came and went. After the fifth or sixth rejection, my emotions steeled themselves and my curiosity took over. I wondered how far the Chief would take this mean-spirited game.
It was close to nine p.m. when the Chief arrived for his final inspection. He hemmed and hawed, but finally tossed the quarter at me. I felt victorious. Not because I had worked so hard, but because after a grueling day of work, my curiosity was finally satisfied.
The Anna Nicole Smith story has been like my chase for that quarter, but without the satisfactory ending.
Too many questions remain unanswered, and too many stories have been left hanging, their plots barely fleshed out, their characters made weak by a formulaic rendering.
If God is in the details, the devil must surely enjoy this convoluted tale of tragedy.
Most stories have a clear beginning, middle and end. This isn’t one of them. The tale of Anna’s life and legacy can rightfully begin in many places, from the stormy home of Grandma Paralee and her overwhelmed and overburdened daughter Virgie, to the day Anna met her billionaire savior in a Texas strip club, or at any of the milestone junctures (and there were many) in-between.
As for the middle, it is left with wide gaping holes of fact versus parody. Who was Anna Nicole Smith, really? Was she as vacuous and graceless as she often appeared on her reality show? Was she a self-absorbed woman willing to sell herself to the highest bidder, regardless of the consequences to herself and others? Or was she a damaged soul carrying the secret burdens of a tragic childhood? A woman without the personal means to wrest herself from the clutches of drugs, misfortune and infamy?
Was Howard K. Stern another savior for the woman who seemed to need constant saving? Was he her stalwart companion, or a man obsessed with the Marilyn Monroe facade of beauty Anna created? Was he the endlessly patient hand holder, or a man who grew to resent his ever-increasing role as the would-be slayer of Anna Nicole’s personal demons?
Who was the young man behind the impish smile and shy green eyes? Who was Daniel Smith? Was he as friendless and alone at the end of his life as it appears? If not, where are his friends, his defenders, and those who would speak on his short life as if it were one that really mattered independently, with or without his mother’s fame? Was the girlfriend his mother alluded to a creation of convenience, or was there really someone out there, besides his mother, that Daniel once loved and maybe confided to?
And the end? There is none yet. The future promises no definitive answers, only more bones to be thrown and picked at, possibly for decades to come. The bone throwers are often characters in their own right. Family members and attorneys from both sides, discarded lovers and friends, ex-employees, mild acquaintances, professional pundits and investigators. The list of potential donors creates a wide-sweeping, but depth-free boneyard. Even the online research community that became so intimately aligned with Bonnie Stern and her brother Howard’s flock of attorneys, have made a donation. That’s another sidebar for a story packed with asides.
I have a few of my own bones to throw out — a few curiosities to explore before I cast the tale out to my own editorial necropolis. And in this effort, at least, there will be a beginning, a middle, and an end.
What is the link between adult websites, Stern’s sister and Howard’s attorneys? . . .
Maryst, stay tuned. The articles will run over the course of the next 10-12 days.
OH JANE HOW COURAGEOUS YOU ARE. . . YOU TELL YOUR STORY JANE , AND I CAN HARDLY WAIT
Dear Jane:
And those links are being checked out by some of the finest and there will be a beginning, middle and end to that saga too.
you will hold my interest, can not wait until this unfolds.
the paragraph about Howard, these are questions I have asked myself, I also have questioned the relationship between Daniel and Anna. I wondered these very questions.
What is the link between adult websites, Stern’s sister and Howard’s attorneys? And how did mention of that link cause this writer to go from appreciated invitee to blacklisted shut-out?>>from Jane
What does this all mean? Anyone…
Maryst, why do you question the relationship between Daniel and Anna?
Cara, please check back in Tuesday or Wednesday when that question will be answered. I have to write the pieces one at a time. - Jane
Jane:
Once again you have taken the lives of several over many decades and managed to encapsulate all of the many answered and unanswered threads which are still so interwoven like a tangled web of matted hair in this many generational tragedy.
Will we ever have all of the answers? Probably not.
Will we be surprised or disappointed at some of the answers? Probably
Such is life with its many detours, curves, good times and bad times.
I await with eager anticipation your story with all its twists and turns and yes, its beginning, middle and end.
Thanks, MD! - Jane
It is just that these are some of the same questions I have asked myself. I wondered about Anna and Daniel. It is hard for me to state, I am not writer. It is just that having a mother in law that I have and knowing Anna’s mother and seeing some of the same behavior in Anna I wondered about Daniel. It is only a question not a fact, but these questions Jane mentioned I have wondered about.
The reason I stopped wondering is because all of Anna’s friends said she was his world so I put it to rest.
As far as Howard, when Anna passed, my first thought was, finally he can move on with his life. That is what came to my mind the very first thought, I was only saying that these questions Jane asked have crossed my mind.
I hope that came out right, about Howard, it is just the life he was in with Anna, well, it had to be hard and serving. We just feel years from now when he looks back he will wonder how he ever did it.
one final thought is I hope the when this is concluded it will not be cryptic. It will be understood.
That’s my goal, maryst, but the understanding will not, obviously, include all the answers the public lacks — only the conclusions I have drawn after months spent writing about and researching the various subjects. - Jane
and it better be good jane keeping everyone in suspense, just like those darn soap operas only better
LOL, Vivian. I’ll do my best. - Jane
I look forward to your final thoughts, that is what I meant by understood, I want to understand what your conclusion is.
Vivian, you are too funny.
Dear Jane:
The story you have told about your father is so true, you start out on a huge project with great anticipation that what you are doing will count for something. You give up sleep and health; you work like a dog because you know deep down inside it is for a just cause. Only to find out there is no resolve, no answer and you feel cold, worn out and used. You would think after this harsh lesson from your de facto father, you would never be caught in this type of situation again. But for me I keep repeating it over and over again.
My heart went out to Anna because in her experiences the same thing happened. She wanted to believe the best in people but they let her down, they used her, abused her and sued her, as she told us in her last interview.
In my life I’m still hoping there is a resolve.
Jane,
I don’t like the limbo you leave us in until your next post but alas! We have not choice but to stay and wait. I will certainly be checking in on you.
Here’s one for you - Did you know that Howard, Bonnie and Gary had a grandmother called Regina? (Incredible, but true!) Kim A will be able to confirm if you didn’t already know.
(JMO)
Please don’t tell us Ron Rale is a secret cyber porn star and Bonnie runs his website!
My stomach can’t take anymore!
Dear Jane,
Love the title!
JANE,
I AM TRYING VERY HARD TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE SAYING! FOR PEOPLE SUCH AS MY SELF WHO WERE NOT WITH THE GIFT OF READING BETWEEN THE LINES. THAT BELIEVE ME I AM NOT TRYING TO BE MEAN OR RUDE, BUT THE WAY YOU PUT THINGS ARE NOT EASY TO UNDERSTAND..,
Beloved, this is the first part of a series of articles. The first part is not meant to tell the whole story, but only to explain what’s coming next. - Jane
Now isn’t it amazing that in an article as long as this, you all picked up on the two or three sentences toward the end that deal with adult websites?
The connection is, as I said, an interesting aside — but not front page news. It will not be in Part 2 of this series, and probably not part 3.
The series, as I said, will start at the beginning — not the middle or the end.
YES JANE, ISNT THAT THE POINT OF THE ENDING OF THE PARAGRAPH TO SUM UP WHAT YOU JUST SAID? BUT THOSE SENTENCES WERE THERE FOR A REASON. I DO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS ONE OF JUST A SERIES OF ARTICLES. IS THIS WHERE THE QUARTER COMES IN? WE HAVE TO EARN IT BY WAITING?
I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT YOU KINDA KNEW BONNIE STERN.. WAS I WRONG??
VERY INTERESTING– WERE WILL THIS TALE END.
ALMOST LIKE A STEPHEN KING BOOK !!!
The ending was — there will be a beginning, a middle, and an end. The sentence you refer to was there for the same reason as other sentences were, Beloved, to inform the reader of another bone in the yard, and another aspect I’ll be writing about. And no, I don’t know Bonnie personally outside of a couple of phone calls, an interview, and a few emails. - Jane
Micha, ALL the questions posed in this introduction to the series will be addressed.
Who knew I had such impatient readers?
I have to leave off answering questions here for now, and get back to writing.
As a reminder, though, to newer people on this site, posts are to stay on topic, and arguments for argument’s sake are not encouraged. Thank you!
Jane, most times it’s hard to wait between commercials for the next shoe to drop, but this will make us use our patience. We all need to go slow and read carefully and let everything sink in. If we got it all at once there would be too much to digest. When it is finished,THEN you can read the whole thing
yikes! what a riot, you cracked me up.
Jane, I get it, this is a story in progress and it takes time to write an article. But yes you have impatient readers, we can not wait for your next article, I am on the edge of my seat
Jane,
What a very interesting and intriguing article! You’ve brought up alot of questions that I had never thought of. All the questions you posed about Anna, Daniel and Howard were really interesting, especially the one in which you were asking if Howard was growing to resent playing the role of Anna’s personal dragon slayer. If Howard never speaks up about anything, we will probably never know.
I don’t have the knowledge of any of the people in this saga, that alot of you have, because I never even heard of Anna, Howard or anyone else in this whole story, until shortly before Anna died. I’d never even heard of the Anna Nicole Show before, and doubt very much I’d have ever watched it. Most of what I’ve learned has come from your site and the people on QV’s site and some of which I’d seen on the news. That is what brought me to these sites when I couldn’t believe the way Howard was being crucified. That’s when I really became interested in the story and was so upset at what they were doing to Howard. This story has been so intriguing and it’s real life, not a soap opera.
From what I can tell of Howard, he seems like a sweet, gentle and patient man that came from a good family and I never could understand how someone like that could have ever gotten personally involved in Anna’s life. I know he was her lawyer and I guess he just became involved with her after being with her and working for her for so long. I truly believe he loved her though. I’m not so sure that she was really in love with him though and that is what I REALLY I also believe he deserves so much better than what he has been dealt with for all these years.
Thank you for such a wonderful and thought provoking article. You can bet I’ll be tuned in for all that is to come. You would never be blacklisted by me. I’m a avid reader. I don’t watch much on TV anymore. It’s mostly trash, so I have my nose in a book, mostly historical romances lol, but I always have a supply on hand because I wouldn’t know what to do if I ever finished one and didn’t have another one to start on.
Opps, I was typing here in the dark and was putting something in a paragraph and I accidentally clicked the wrong key and sent my post up before I was finished with it lol.
I was stating that I didn’t think Anna was really in love with Howard and that was what I really didn’t understand lol. I think she loved him, but that’s different than being IN love with someone. But maybe I’m wrong, because how could anyone be around Howard and not fall in love with him at some point?
I guess I’m finished now lol.
Jane,
Impatient, yes, but at least you know you have alot of fans here that love your writing lol.
Jane!
I am beguiled, bemused, befuddled, and breathless.
Oh dear, please do not let me hang in there by my fingernails, for too long! I can’t wait, I gotta know now!
But seriously. Great piece of writing, intriguing points, and I am on the edge of my seat. I have to return tomorrow, when I am more clear-eyed, and reread your post, especially because I want to delve more into what you wrote about “the “Chief and the Quarter.” For now, all I can do is to send you a cyber-hug.
But getting back to ANS and HKS. You see, I have this rather idealistic vision of HKS, and I hope that at the end of your series, this vision will remain (reasonably) intact. Hopefully, as one of your posters said here, one day he will look back, realizing he has been freed from a nightmare, and wonder at why on earth he put up with so much — and not only from the Press and Virgie Arthur, etc., but also from the late Anna/Vicky. Yes, he too seems to have chased that elusive quarter, in his case, saving the life of his big, great, beautiful golden doll, and has lost himself in this quest.
Dear Jane, may God always watch over you and your lovely Daughter!
K.
Oh I have so many typos in my previous post. Also I was wondering who Uncle Helper is. Could it be Art?
Wow!!! I was gone all afternoon and missed all this excitement.
Kristina, I like your choice of words ” beguiled, bemused, befuddled, and breathless” because it explains how I feel right now since my mind is befogged and bewildered.
Jane, I will wait with bated breath.
I am a proud supporter of Howard K. Stern.
I use to be a proud supporter, I thought I knew but after the turn of events, I am questioning myself. I feel disappointed. I am reflecting on the past few months and I have questions. Questions I am pretty sure will never be answered.
Hi Mary,
I fully understand and enjoyed talking with you about all this before.
For those of us still fighting the good fight, of which I am one, the opposite is true. The more we know that is legitimate, the more we work towards the goal, namely exoneration in the public eye which will soon be confirmed legally and correctly.
Until then, I shall bid you goodbye and thank you for your previous support of Howard K. Stern, on behalf of bloggers everywhere who have enjoined this endeavor.
bye, this is the question that has bothered me the most, when Howard was on the stand, why would he bring up H.Marshall at a time like that? It has always bothered me.
Ladies
While I do not presume to speak on Jane’s behalf, I would just like to share my own personal experience with Jane’s writing.
I discovered Jane’s site several months ago and it is the first thing I check every morning. I have found that Jane is a terrific writer who gets down to the bare bones of each and every topic in a thorough and insightful way. I also know I can depend on Jane for the truth as I know she does a tremendous amount of research.
After reading each article I reread it and then let it jell in my mind as I find I am constantly in awe of her writing and the various and different perspectives she brings to each topic. She really makes me think. Personally I think that this is the sign of a wonderful writer.
It is only after many readings and sometimes days that I post my comments as I find myself reexamining my thoughts and feelings on what has been written.
Jane has said that she will be writing several articles over the next ten days to two weeks that hopefully will answer some of our questions. While I realize that it is human nature to want answers to all of our questions neatly tied up in a nice pretty bow, alas that is not life nor reality. There are some questions that we will never know the answers to.
With all due respect to all, let us all be patient and let Jane do what Jane does best, write. This is her site and it is her prerogative to do as she sees fit. Let us all show some courtesy, respect and appreciation for her as we await her next article.
I have no doubt that it will be worth the wait. Thank you ladies.
My mothers daughter: I will wait this one out as well. I am quite interested, have I had blind faith?
I have complete confidence in Jane and will anxiously await her next words.
Dear Carol Anne,
I wish you speedy recovery! My prayers are with you, may you be better than you and live a long healthy life.
Dear Maryst,
Please stay on as a “supporter.” No matter what HKS’s shortcomings, he is still the good guy in this saga. When he took the stand in FL, in regard to where his beloved was to be laid to rest, he was still a shell-shocked person, holding body and soul together only with the greatest effort. He had lost Daniel, the woman he had spent so many years serving and protecting, also he knew he stood to lose the baby girl he had watched being born and had taken to his heart, but was not allowed to grieve for practically the whole world had turned into a mob reviling him, chasing him, trying to crucify him. OF COURSE he did not murder Daniel, OF COURSE he did not murder Anna/Vicky, and OF COURSE, at no time, did he rob her of monies or opportunities. But he had devoted himself body and soul to her, to the detriment of losing sight of himself as a man. Remember David Schwimmer, who is playing HKS in an upcoming movie?
http://www.tmz.com/category/anna-nicole-smith/
I looked at Schwimmer’s photo next to HKS, and felt sad. HKS is no way less handsome, in fact Schwimmer does look like HKS, but portrays a more confident version. HKS is a tall man with good hair, nice eyes, strong facial features. Yet he lacks Schwimmer’s hair style, stance, shoulders, and devilish half-smile.
When he was living with Anna, HKS looked like the humblest of men who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, he was troubled, harassed, and harried, virtually unable to straighten up and be himself.
Hang in there, Maryst. No matter what he has done before, regardless of whether gay, bi-sexual, drag-queen, porn-star, French maid, HKS is still the good guy — perhaps the only one — in this saga!
Ooops! Correction!
The name of the actor who is playing HKS, is not Schwimmer but Chris Devlin. Sorry, my handsome friend, did not mean to offend you by misquoting your name
Kristina, I will, I have had some uneasy feelings lately; I will try to figure out what is going on with me. I can not explain what I feel, I am not a writer. I am awaiting the new article.
I did not like the photo of Howard either and think he is better looking too.
There is some of the story in which I have to come to grip with, it is not the romantic love story I had wanted. That is not Howard’s fault.
Kristina, thank you for noticing I was even here
Dear maryst,
It’s Okay to dream.
Schwimmer IMO would have been the more perfect and most logical choice.
But, ‘what’s her name,’ that’s playing the role of Anna, definitely fits better with Chris Devlin.
Jane,
the last article I read from you was annoncing the Wrap-up. I agree with it. You did a good job relating the facts with sensitivity, compassion and intelligence, and it was the place I came every day to take a fresh air from all the scrappy things I heard everywhere else on the web.
I discovered a very good writer, a woman who was speaking the right words for many of us. I learned a lot during the last months. Psychology physionomy, sociology…When Anna passed ,I was involved in this story like an attraction cause I am an old gardner and I am not artist digger. I knew Anna cause for me she was a woman who stood up and she was a model in certain ways for women who fight for their rights. Howard K. Stern was always on her side and helped her to go to supreme court.
When I started to heard all the people getting on his case, going in their private life, trying to destroy this man. . .it was terrible. I always supported Stern. I do believe in friendship, love, and he was the perfect example. He did the rights things for Dannielynn. After the paternity case ended I was sure dissapointed cause I don’t like LB, but I saw Howard in a better position with more help to offer. I keep looking at the case and I know it’s not finished yet. I keep reading your articles and I will continue even if I don’t make comments.
Dear Maryst and Dear Friends.
I just finished reading the latest posts over at QV, and am shocked. I tried to post there, but it did not work.
Am typing hastily, so please accept my apologies for any typo and grammar issues.
Firstly, Maryst. Yes, it is possible that the HKS and ANS story is not quite the romantic tale we’ve believed it was. Nevertheless, from all I’ve gathered, they did love each other, albeit each in his/her own way. That HKS sacrificed and suffered for her, I still do not doubt. He is an educated person, a lawyer, who gave up his career, and then even his manhood, for Anna Nicole/Vicky. At no time the pipe-smoke pie-in-the sky Marshall fortune would have been worth emasculating himself to attain, at best, a portion of it. HKS did what he did, those years of goferhood to make ANS happy, for Anna, and Anna only.
And that she was fond of him and trusted him, especially with the most important person in her life, her son Daniel, I do not doubt either.
Re. what we’ve been reading about attacks on the two ladies who enabled us to post our thoughts on this matter.
Indeed it makes no sense for Howard K Stern, his lawyers, his sister, and anyone else who is his friend, to attack/alienate QV and Jane Devin.
But the question begs: Are these attacks what they seem? And from whom they seem? Even if these came rubber-stamped by Howard K Stern and Co., I would propose that the extent and fury of the gang-up on HKS, have made HKS and Co, paranoiac, understandably so, and they have jumped the gun prematurely, without knowing or considering all the pertinent facts.
I am sorry to see this, and hope that we will remain HKS and Anna Nicole Smith supporters. After all, the original reason we’ve gathered around Jane and QV’s websites is because we watched an unfair scenario unfold in the Media and wanted to speak up to balance the scales.
May the righteous prevail.
Amen.
Dear Freida,
Surely you’re joking about Schwimmer (after taking a good look at him) would have been the better choice for HKS? :-))))))
Dear Maryst, there IS romantic love. Keep the faith!
Kristina,
No joke, although Schwimmer is not nearly as handsome, he IMO is just as sweet.
Regarding Anna, the first thing that popped out at me was this: “Was she as vacuous and graceless as she often appeared on her reality show? Was she a self-absorbed woman willing to sell herself to the highest bidder, regardless of the consequences to herself and others? Or was she a damaged soul carrying the secret burdens of a tragic childhood? A woman without the personal means to wrest herself from the clutches of drugs, misfortune and infamy?”
I have blogged about this in many forums and I say ‘all of the above.’
As I have stated previously, I have always supported Larry but I did NOT ever think Howard had done anything except serve as another of Anna’s victims.
There is no question that Anna was selfish and she did NOT ever put the health and well-being of her child before herself, even before Daniel died. She took drugs, was in rehab, etc. while pregnant. - So I have always believed that Larry was truthful - and right - when he wanted to get his child away from Anna if she would not give up drugs.
Larry is quoted as saying, “Howard did things for Anna that no one wanted to do.” I know that Howard did love her and I have believed that she exploited him and his devotion to her. Larry was like a star-struck kid who seemed to look at Anna through rose-colored glasses, thinking that she would change her ways.
As for Jane, I have thoroughly enjoyed her excellent writing and I have respected the passion she seems to feel about her subjects. I recognize superior writing when I see it and Jane’s talent is unsurpassed. She is a masterful writer and I find myself wanting more of her work to read.
My perception is that Jane has been presented with evidence that most of us are not going to like……
Hi again, Friends!
With Jane Devin’s permission, I would like to post the link to the blog I just opened re. ANS and HKS, here:
http://karinavita.bravejournal.com/
If you so wish, this can be an additional gathering place to voice your support as well as … doubts.
When you believe in an issue/cause so passionately, you have the RIGHT TO BELIEVE AND THE RIGHT TO DOUBT.
Personally, I am glad that I found Jane D and QV. I hope they will continue to share their thoughts and research with us.
As an important aside, better said as a bonus, I enjoy reading Jane Devin’s astute writings.
I also watch those determined hordes over at CTV and TMZ spew a lot of nonsense day after day, and while am not able to read all of them, am able to count the pages. Each time, I feel renewedly astonished. What keeps them going on and on? They could not be strangers, ordinary people who saw this saga unfold on TV screens and Internet and occasionally feel the need to have their say. In my opinion, just my opinion, my humble opinion (IMO, JMO, JMHO — wow, have learned new abbreviations!) these are a core group of several people, working hard on a personal agenda, whatever that might be, but with the goal of besmirching the memory of a dead woman, her dead son, and her still live friend and partner. As long as they take the time and post so vehemently, I would like some of us to continue counter postingt just because we don’t like the unfairness of it all.
Hmm. Unless of course it can proven without the shadow of doubt, and accepted by a jury of 12, that HKS is a murderer.
Until then, I will follow this case.
#
Kristina, I am keeping my heart and mind open, thank you for your post. I don’t know what this uneasy feeling I have is, it started prior to this outbreak. Some thing does not feel right is all I can explain.
I understand HKS and friends owe me nothing, it is not about that. I would have loved an acknowledgment for Jane and QV though.
This article Jane wrote, there are questions and thoughts I have wondered myself. Am I idolizing? I propose this as a question, not set in my opinion.
Are there any other independent websites that are pro-Stern or open to all such as TMZ??
This has certainly been a lesson for me.
I revised the article above and took out the mention of adult websites. It seems to have caused too much anomosity and speculation, even though I said it was just an aside — a sidebar — to a larger story. It’s no explosive bombshell, or believe me I would have put it up right away.
It will be, for what its worth, part of Tuesday or Wednesday’s article. Until then, I’d very much appreciate it if discussion could move away from that topic for now.
Thank you.
I went to the QV site and I still have no clue about what has happened. Could someone please post - in a nutshell - what happened and what this mystery is all about? I only missed a couple days of reading the posts and I feel like Ihave been abandoned in a foreigh country. Evidnetly, some of you read what was posted on QV before it was taken down.
Thanks.
Dear Rachelle.
To the best of my knowledge, Jane Devin’s site is an independent site. Yes, I found her via CTV boards, though it might be TMZ as well.
If you read through the posts, you will see the language and sentiments expressed by each and every poster, is articulate, full of emotions, questions that make sense, and contains no outright gossip or slander.
In general, we happen to like Anna Nicole Smith, and believe that HKS is being treated unfairly.
Also, we believe that there are many unanswered questions about the other characters in this saga.
As an example: Ford Shelley’s involvement with ANS. Personally, I do not think it was legal (nor moral - according to my own set of values) for F Shelly to enter her house (even with ownership in dispute) immediately after her death, to remove her personal items, and then hand them over to the Media. I doubt that Anna had told him to take out precious items such as the paintings she had done for her daughter, personal video tapes, diaries, documents, clothes, etc., unless Shelley was her absolute best friend on earth and she knew in advance that she would die in Florida.
Naturally, however, what I post is merely my humble opinion, and Ford Shelley is not the only one I wonder about.
Anyhow, Rachelle, to the best of my knowledge, this is an independent site, and I, along with others, come to post here with no personal agenda, and no personal stake whatsoever in the outcome of this saga.
Warm regards,
Kristina
Linda,
Did you read the posts on QV’s site for “No Happy Ever After” that she put up today? You can find some of the answers there.
Linda
PA
Jane
I tried to email you and it wont go through.
I have been gone for a few days enjoying family. My son was in a tournament all weekend They won!! the championship {{{Yes so proud}}}.
Mish, my email is Yeah!! for your son! Thanks, Jane.
I guess I will put what I wanted to say here:
QV, I just want to Thank You for the great job you did with your blog. I was so happy when I found it, because I couldn’t believe what had happened to Howard. God Bless you QV you did good.
Love,
Linda
PA
I wanted to say Thank You also, to all the wonder people that I had a chance to chat with on QV’s blog. I hope that QV will start a new blog, so that we can stay in touch. If not, QV has my e-mail address and if you want to chat or vent I will be glad to listen. God Bless you all. Jane, how do we get a password for your blog here?
Linda
PA
There’s only one pswd post on this site, Linda. I did that so three people who were battling could have a discussion in “private”. When they are done, the comments will be removed and the post made unprotected.
I wish I can understand how you all idealize Howard it but it just baffles me completely.
I do not want to see him get hung, I do not think he killed or robed anyone.
But I do question everything else, about him….his ethics, many of his choices, and definitely his character. In my opinion he had sleaziness about him but MO does not matter, that is not a reason to hang him. I think he is paying the price for his choices as he should be, common people there is no saint here. Yes he loved Anna in his own way, he also loved the lime light, he also loved the Marshall case. But he is not a saint.
Ahava,
No one is a saint, absolutely no one.
Anna needed a lawyer, and everyone has the right to legal council.
Maybe he made a couple of mistakes, accepting the job and really loving his work.
This I have thought from the beginning.
Thank you Linda. I appreciate your support and comments. Very much!
QV
Jane, I am baffled. . .I fear what it is you have found out . . . That is why we should not get so caught up in strangers’ lives!
Isabel, I don’t really understand the fear. I’ve said this many times — this is a retrospective. Any new information is like the sidebar to a story — interesting, maybe, but certainly not earth shaking.
I don’t even know where to begin. I feel depressed and part of me says that is silly because I do not know any of the people involved in this saga. But, everyone from the original cast of players (Anna Nicole, Howard, Daniel, Dannielynn) to QV, Jane and all the people who comment here and on QV’s site, have made their way into my life somehow and have had an effect on me. This was my first experience with a blog and I have to admit that I looked forward to visiting here and on QV’s site every night for the past three months and now her’s is gone and I feel like I have lost something important to me. I also feel like I am about to hear bad news—or hear something about someone I care about that I don’t want to hear and I am a little apprehensive. This has happened to me before when I have become emotionally involved with someone I do not even know when I think they have been unfairly convicted or villified. For the life of me I cannot understand why I do this to myself. I have enough things to worry about without taking on a stranger’s problems but the heart doesn’t always listen to the brain does it?
I hope Howard proves to be worthy of the support and concern that ALL of us have given him.
I still don’t fully understand what is going on but I trust we will know more over the next couple of weeks. However, one thing I do understand clearly and that is that Jane and QV have been hurt badly by people they once trusted and that is a hurt that stays with a person and to some extent, affects you forever. I am really sorry this has happened to them.
Like I said, I hope we haven’t been betrayed but even if we have been, I have a feeling that the next time we see or hear of someone that we feel is being treated unfairly, we will all, no doubt, jump in with both feet and put ourselves through all of this again.
I hope at least some of this makes sense. I have a tendency to be a little long winded. I hope we will all continue to have a place to visit with each other.
Annie
Hi Annie, please see my comment on Isabel’s post. Thank you, and thank you (always) for your support.
Jane, although I have only posted once on your site, I have read each and every posting. I want to express my thanks to you for your excellent writing-abilities. Like Annie, I too, feel depressed, thinking that we are going to hear something that we don’t want to hear and, the outcome will not be the outcome we are hoping for. I was led to your site (although I had never blogged before) due to witnessing a man being dragged down, as no man should be dragged down. I finally found bloggers on your site, who were of the same opinion that I was and who were not spewing venom about HKS but, in fact, were on his side. It was as though I had found my sanity again! Before Daniel’s death, I would casually watch Anna Nicole with Howard on the TV and, all I could think was, how very much in love with Anna, this man really was. To me, they seemed complete opposities but I hoped, at least for Howard’s sake, that she had at least, some love for him. Although I tell myself that Anna did love Howard, I find it hard to convince myself of this. I am crossing my fingers that, after we read your story, in its entirety, we Howard supporters, will consider the ending, a “happy ending”.
I will reserve judgment until after Jane’s post. I still believe.
The thing that bothers me about the QV site is that when something happens, it all seems eradic and disorganized, with no explanations. Why post anything at all, unless it’s understood by the bloggers? Well, the first time was ok, but this last time is about as clear as mud. I agree. It makes one wonder if we should even blog this subject anymore. There are apparent ‘other’ or possible ‘nefarious’ motives behind the scenes occurring. When it comes to money, big money, people begin acting quite different, if they feel threatened. Hopefully, someday we won’t be in the dark…because I agree with others. All the confusion makes us just wonder if we should be involved, or not…
I feel very down today as well. My thinking is this: I found QV’s site by pure accident. Felt like I was led there. Anyway, I was so happy to find it, because I saw a man on TV who was being crucified. I didn’t know this man at all, but I felt compassion for him. I searched the web and couldn’t find anything good being said about him. I thought I must be crazy to feel so bad for someone I didn’t know, but I did know what was happening to him was very wrong. I then found QV’s site and starting reading, and then posting. It was so nice, and the people on the site were so nice. So many people on there did so much to help Mr. Stern, I was amazed at what they found and how ,I feel, they helped him. I did a few things, e-mailing NG, GVS, and Fox News. But mostly, I posted my feelings and read a lot. I prayed for Mr. Stern too, and a lot. I wish he could know how ordinary people, strangers to each other, and him cared so much for his welfare. I don’t know all that happened, and really it doesn’t matter anymore. I am not sorry I came upon QV’s site, though, because I had fun, met good people, and felt I was helping someone. I wish all my fellow posters well, and Howard I wish you well too.
Very truly,
Linda
PA
Linda,
I feel exactly the same as you. I had never even heard of the players in this saga before, but I too couldn’t stand by and see how Howard was being called everyname under the sun on TV and was being accused of causing the deaths of two people,so I came online to see if there were any Howard support sites and was so astonished to see what so many people were saying on other sites. I never knew people could hate so much and without reason! I never returned to those. Then I finally found my way to QV’s and then to Jane’s site and was so happy to find a place where everyone felt the same way I felt. Actually I found Art Harris’s site and that’s where I saw the link to QV’s.
I too said a prayer for Howard every night when I went to bed. I feared for him. I became so involved with his plight. I too don’t know much of what is going on right now, but will wait to hear.
I sent many, many emails out to attorneys and the media and to people in the Bahamas and felt so frustrated because our emails didn’t seem to be working. I just got so caught up in this and couldn’t even sleep very well. It seemed like the evil was prevailing and we weren’t being heard. The media just ignored us.
Right now, I feel sort of numb and depressed and am just waiting.
I hope all the hard work that everyone did, is appreciated by the one it was being done for.
PS I too am from PA