Why does LE think that Excitement's Crave is legit?

[shard]

Nov 30, 2016 18:02:55 GMT winters said:

Or do they? If I'm remembering correctly, Larry Crompton seemed quite ambivalent about it in Sudden Terror.

From what I understand, attribution to the EAR is based on two facts:

1) It refers to the Mafia, and the attack against the Italian family was in close proximity to this letter.

2) The typewriter. Some info on the typewriter:

A producer from one of the TV segments stated that the typewriter used to write the letter was "a 'Royal' brand blue metal, with blue fiberglass case 22x14x8" and implied that a model of that type had been stolen somewhere in Sacramento.

Later, user portofleith added the following information in this post:

"The typewriter was a portable Royal in a fiberglass case. (great pic F1guyus and they were very lightweight and easy to transport). Here are a few more interesting facts about the crime scene where the typewriter was stolen:

1) the typewriter was stolen in a home burglary between 7:00-8:00 pm in August , prior to the rape attempt that occurred in December. The typewriter, a photograph of the victim and an engagement ring were the only items stolen. A jar of pickles was moved in the refrigerator.

2) the victim attended the rape awareness meeting at Foothill JHS 10/27/77

3) husband was a Lt Colonel in the Army and not home

4) victim had been receiving phone calls for weeks

5) a group of loitering teenagers outside the home deterred the rape. One of the teenagers, Kippi Vaught, later in a strange twist of fate, became a victim of the sex slave killers Charlene and Gerard Gallego."

Very interesting information and she's always great at providing info, I'm just not sure of the source. I didn't find it in Crompon's book and I don't have the other ones on me.

The main reason I find myself wanting to pursue the validity of Excitement's Crave is that it's really the sole communication we may have from EAR that was intended for public consumption. What I find odd about it is that the last line about the papers and TV can be taken to mean that further communications were planned, although the most common way of reading that is that there would be further news reports about him.

And honestly, the whole thing seems like it could easily be a prank. Although if the same model used to type it was indeed the same as one that was just stolen, that's a coincidence that's hard to ignore. Can someone verify that a typewriter of that model was indeed stolen? If not, what do you folks think about the authenticity of the poem?

Is there an image of the typewritten poem that was released by LE?

[interesting]

Sept 12, 2017 15:28:04 GMT cityofchill said:

Dec 1, 2016 7:26:29 GMT Drifter said:

Interesting thread.

Agree.

An analogy to this would be that it's hard for me to believe that the VR doughboy sketch is the same person represented in some of the Sacramento sketches.

At the risk of stating the obvious, we have 4 possibilities, one of which is correct:
1. Mad is the Word and Excitement's Crave were both written by the EAR,
2. neither Mad is the Word nor Excitement's Crave was written by the EAR,
3. Mad is the Word was written by the EAR, but Excitement's Crave was not,
4. Mad is the Word was not written by the EAR, but Excitement's Crave was.

As just a guess, I lean toward #4.

D.

Hey Drifter! I've been going back through this section of the board, because I thought murdoc had created a thread to debate authorship of the poem and I wanted to bump it. I can't find that thread (I'm almost positive it existed at one point) but this thread has some great information on possible evidence of authorship.

Anyways, I wanted to chime in on your list of possibilities and expand on #1, which I happen to think is the most correct. I haven't studied the 'mad is the word' writing in detail, but I've read it a few times and my impression is of a person who sees their own needs and feelings as being more important than anyone else's, and whose rage is incongruous with the source of it. His obsession with shame and anger, the way he blows his sentence-writing and cancelled field trips out of all proportion and makes these typical middle-school punishments seem like crimes against humanity, as well as the fact that he seems to be hanging on to these feelings long after-the-fact tells me quite a lot about the personality of the author, and it jives with the kind of personality I would expect an offender like EAR/ONS to have: totally self-centred, filled with rage, fragile ego, eager to blame others for everything, immature and lacking in emotional intelligence, choosing a proxy - his teacher - as a stand-in for all the people who may have wronged him during that time of his life, fixation on someone who he believes had wronged him. These are just of the traits that come through in 'Mad' exercise (i think I'll use the abbreviation MitW from now on. It's a pain in the ass to write 'Mad is the Word over and over'). 

Anyhow, please indulge me for a moment as I expand on your possibility #1:

1. MitW and EC were both written by the same author, but possibly at different times in their life, with possibly several years separating them, and for different purposes and audiences.*


*The writing style in MitW is different from the poem because EC was carefully written by someone who wanted to show off their intelligence by using a traditional and challenging poetic form as their medium for expression. They spent a lot of time planning the poem, the words they would use, and ensuring it matched the requirements of a sonnet. As a result, EC is not "representative" of this person's writing style if the two items were written by the same person. EC was meant to be read by a wide audience, so the author worked very hard to show the world that he was smart.

MitW, on the other hand, is not meant to be seen by a larger audience. As many have suggested, it could be an exercise devised by a therapist to help their client overcome some kind of mental health issue. MitW was not written carefully, for an audience, and with a lot of time to "get it right." It has a stream-of-consciousness feel which suggests it was a therapeutic exercise of some sort. Also, MitW was apparently torn from a spiral notebook that contained all kinds of disparate content. It was hand-written, seemingly in one continuous "burst." The poem was typed and almost certainly had rough drafts that preceded it.

So, while MitW is an unpolished tangent, filled with errors, and not the work of someone with strong writing skills, that doesn't mean it wasn't written by the same person who wrote EC. EC also has its share of errors, pleCinderfellay of misued words and phrases that suggest someone who is educated, but not highly educated — at least, not in the Humanities. There is also a possibility that MitW — if written by the same person who wrote EC — was written at an earlier period in the author's life than the poem. MitW is juvenile in its oulook, obsessive in its fixation on feelings of anger and pain over what appear to be pretty trivial and what were at the time routine punishments for students. I've written elsewhere about the possibility that the shame and anger the author writes about might have been an indication of the author is using his teacher as a an excuse 

That sounds right on. I agree with you on the aspects you covered about the mental state of the writer(s) of the papers and how they are intellectually. Great job, spot on!

[cityofchill]

Dec 14, 2016 8:43:24 GMT sammyt said:

Can anyone provide information about the possible prelude to EC...

Did it ever actually exist? Was it debunked? I can't remember, and sometimes lose track of things with this case!

I can tell you my own experiences with it:

The "prelude" was sent to me not long after I first started my analysis of EC thread. The source was credible. I began to try and place the "prelude" as part of the sonnet, but it was difficult. Thankfully, my puzzlement didn't last long. After posting about it, I got several messages from other credible sources (and I think maybe the initial source) that told me it wasn't part of the original submission and its provenance couldn't be confirmed. One source (again, it might have been the original one) toild me a week or so after first sending to me, that it was a creative undertaking by someone other than the author, and should be disregarded. So that's what I did. 

I have dismissed it as a hoax until evidence proves otherwise. Its style, tone, diction, poetics, use of figurative language, and form do not match that of 'Excitement's Crave.' If I remember correctly, the poetic form of the "prelude" was especially at odds with EC. I don't remember how many lines it was or what the metre or rhyme scheme was, but it was completely different from EC in just about ever way. Furthermore, sonnets almost never have preludes. Why would you have a prelude for such a small, compact poem? Preludes — where they exist in poetry — usually precede an epic of some sort; certainly not a sonnet).

The "prelude" is practically nothing like the poem it introduces and is, IMO, not authentic. At the very least, I don't believe it was intended to be part of the poem when EC was written, and I don't believe it has the same author. 

[sammyt]

Thanks cityofchill.

The prelude was interesting as it seemed to suggest an author with an aviation background, which could have linked certain POIs with the poem.

I agree that it seemed out of place, and didn't seem to 'fit' with the rest of the poem.

It's disrespectful if people are fabricating evidence to fit in with their own pet POIs.

I guess there are people lurking online who have such sad and lonely lives (and mental issues) that they feel the need to lie and make things up.

[cityofchill]

Sept 13, 2017 7:47:14 GMT sammyt said:

Thanks cityofchill.

The prelude was interesting as it seemed to suggest an author with an aviation background, which could have linked certain POIs with the poem.

I agree that it seemed out of place, and didn't seem to 'fit' with the rest of the poem.

It's disrespectful if people are fabricating evidence to fit in with their own pet POIs.

I guess there are people lurking online who have such sad and lonely lives (and mental issues) that they feel the need to lie and make things up.

If that's what it was — a fabrication, and especially if it was one meant to boost a certain POI to the top of the heap — then that is indeed disrespectful and even despicable. 

[cityofchill]

Test: Cinderfella

What. The. Hell!?

Why is the 13th letter of the alphabet followed by the 20th letter somehow censored?

Cinderfella Cinderfella Cinderfella Cinderfella Cinderfella Cinderfella Cinderfella

[winters]

Sept 13, 2017 19:02:04 GMT cityofchill said:

Test: Cinderfella

What. The. Hell!?

Why is the 13th letter of the alphabet followed by the 20th letter somehow censored?

Cinderfella Cinderfella Cinderfella Cinderfella Cinderfella Cinderfella Cinderfella

PM sent.

[cityofchill]

Sept 13, 2017 19:30:04 GMT winters said:

Sept 13, 2017 19:02:04 GMT cityofchill said:

Test: Cinderfella

What. The. Hell!?

Why is the 13th letter of the alphabet followed by the 20th letter somehow censored?

Cinderfella Cinderfella Cinderfella Cinderfella Cinderfella Cinderfella Cinderfella

PM sent.

PM read and reply sent. Thanks winters!

[oldguy]

Dec 1, 2016 7:26:29 GMT Drifter said:

Interesting thread.

I too have a hard time believing the same guy that allegedly wrote 'Mad is the Word' also wrote 'Excitement's Crave.

Agree.

An analogy to this would be that it's hard for me to believe that the VR doughboy sketch is the same person represented in some of the Sacramento sketches.

At the risk of stating the obvious, we have 4 possibilities, one of which is correct:
1. Mad is the Word and Excitement's Crave were both written by the EAR,
2. neither Mad is the Word nor Excitement's Crave was written by the EAR,
3. Mad is the Word was written by the EAR, but Excitement's Crave was not,
4. Mad is the Word was not written by the EAR, but Excitement's Crave was.

As just a guess, I lean toward #4.

D.

I asked a friend who is a retired English Lit prof to analyze EC. The first sentence of his response said "....it is a celebration of psychopathology." In my mind, EC reeks of intelligence, resentment, and misdirected talent. Yes I think EAR wrote it.

[cityofchill]

Sept 14, 2017 12:53:52 GMT oldguy said:

Dec 1, 2016 7:26:29 GMT Drifter said:

Interesting thread.

Agree.

An analogy to this would be that it's hard for me to believe that the VR doughboy sketch is the same person represented in some of the Sacramento sketches.

At the risk of stating the obvious, we have 4 possibilities, one of which is correct:
1. Mad is the Word and Excitement's Crave were both written by the EAR,
2. neither Mad is the Word nor Excitement's Crave was written by the EAR,
3. Mad is the Word was written by the EAR, but Excitement's Crave was not,
4. Mad is the Word was not written by the EAR, but Excitement's Crave was.

As just a guess, I lean toward #4.

D.

I asked a friend who is a retired English Lit prof to analyze EC. The first sentence of his response said "....it is a celebration of psychopathology." In my mind, EC reeks of intelligence resentment, and misdirected talent. Yes I think EAR wrote it.

I think that's a damn good summary of the poem. 

[cleopatra]

Dec 1, 2016 7:26:29 GMT Drifter said:

Interesting thread.

I too have a hard time believing the same guy that allegedly wrote 'Mad is the Word' also wrote 'Excitement's Crave.

Agree.

An analogy to this would be that it's hard for me to believe that the VR doughboy sketch is the same person represented in some of the Sacramento sketches.

At the risk of stating the obvious, we have 4 possibilities, one of which is correct:
1. Mad is the Word and Excitement's Crave were both written by the EAR,
2. neither Mad is the Word nor Excitement's Crave was written by the EAR,
3. Mad is the Word was written by the EAR, but Excitement's Crave was not,
4. Mad is the Word was not written by the EAR, but Excitement's Crave was.

As just a guess, I lean toward #4.

D.

[cleopatra]

Dec 1, 2016 7:26:29 GMT Drifter said:

Interesting thread.

I too have a hard time believing the same guy that allegedly wrote 'Mad is the Word' also wrote 'Excitement's Crave.

Agree.

An analogy to this would be that it's hard for me to believe that the VR doughboy sketch is the same person represented in some of the Sacramento sketches.

At the risk of stating the obvious, we have 4 possibilities, one of which is correct:
1. Mad is the Word and Excitement's Crave were both written by the EAR,
2. neither Mad is the Word nor Excitement's Crave was written by the EAR,
3. Mad is the Word was written by the EAR, but Excitement's Crave was not,
4. Mad is the Word was not written by the EAR, but Excitement's Crave was.

As just a guess, I lean toward #4.

D.

[cleopatra]

Dec 1, 2016 7:26:29 GMT Drifter said:

Interesting thread.

I too have a hard time believing the same guy that allegedly wrote 'Mad is the Word' also wrote 'Excitement's Crave.

Agree.

An analogy to this would be that it's hard for me to believe that the VR doughboy sketch is the same person represented in some of the Sacramento sketches.

At the risk of stating the obvious, we have 4 possibilities, one of which is correct:
1. Mad is the Word and Excitement's Crave were both written by the EAR,
2. neither Mad is the Word nor Excitement's Crave was written by the EAR,
3. Mad is the Word was written by the EAR, but Excitement's Crave was not,
4. Mad is the Word was not written by the EAR, but Excitement's Crave was.

As just a guess, I lean toward #4.

D.

[cleopatra]

I pick number 4.

[samisdad]

Excitement's Crave, reads (to to me), more like an immature attempt at poetry in a format of a folk song. Folk music was a popular medium  of music, although  declining from it's heyday in the anti-establishment 1960's. Definitely plenty of anger, resentment and rejection of societal norms and structure. Harkins back to the "If it feels good, do it" era.
#2
It could also have been ripped from a notebook left in the car/van by a younger sibling, siblings friend or cohort.