I just stumbled by to see why someone dug up old postings I had written here last year. Guess the new interest in my Dominique Dunne book has caused this.

I was reading some of you guys' comments here on the latest about the Natalie Wood mystery. I was curious to see what kind of reactions Marti's book was getting. A lot of them made me laugh. Very entertaining!

Someone mocked me for never completing my book where an interview with Stefanie Powers would appear. Well, I yielded to Marti on the Natalie Wood story, and quickly moved on to Dominique Dunne. In fact, I'm on a totally different book now. I put "Hollywood Is Dying" on hold for now. Too expensive to do, with all the photos I'd need to pay for regarding copyright permissions. I still plan to finish it after I "get my feet wet" with this Dunne book.

My book should be out in February, but that's up to my publisher. Now, if you all will excuse me, it's my birthday, so I'm off to enjoy it!

Michael J. Eastman
Author: "Murder in West Hollywood: The Dominique Dunne Story"
Publisher: Tate Publishing, LLC

AND ONCE AGAIN, NO ONE CARES!

I saw that too. Doesn't he realize it was the resodent troll that brought up one of his ancient posts because she had nothing else to add and she needed to stir up the pot just like she brought up old posts from members of the RJ group. He has long been forgotten on here and elsewhere I am sure.
Strange, Dominick Dunne is dead and now the book will be published?
Shall we all run to our local houses of worship and praise Easman? I think not.

Oh Dear! I spelled resident and Eastman wrong in my previous post! A slip of the finger I assure you but I will surely be boiled in oil from the resident troll who was kicked off a group and is flying aimlessly about.

Lets not hold our breath waiting for that one to be published.
I wonder how Mr. Eastman ever perused West Hollywood considering he is such a homophobe who refuses to read anything by a Gay author it must have been so terrible for the poor dear to consort with anyone remotely associated with Southern California's GAY MECCA!

Back to you darling and is this the same Christian author who won't read Lambert's Natalie A Life because Lambert was Gay and he is such a homophobic bigot that he actually announced this on a thread on this very site? Same guy?

LMAO: he "yielded" to Rulli.

LOL I thought I was the only one who found that funny. Glad to see I'm not. Yielded? Maybe he has been taking driving lessons for the past 2 years and that is why we have not heard from F. Scott Eastman!

Michael has a good story in the Dunne case. If he presents it without his preaching, like he always did here, it could have a showing. He's a victim of his prejudices, but he's a dedicated individual when it comes to justice. I'll give a mark of credit for that. I went round and round with him here over a year ago. It was fun.

Is there new information on Dominique's murder that has recently been discovered? If not, her death was covered beautifully by her father in the book and later mini-series "People Like Us."

so Eastman is not capitalizing on Dominique's death? He is seeking justice. Interesting.

"Is there new information on Dominique's murder that has recently been discovered? If not, her death was covered beautifully by her father in the book and later mini-series "People Like Us."

I totally agree with whomever posted the above statement. I can't image anyone telling the story with more compelling conviction than Dominique's own Father, Dominick and certainly not someone as closed minded with his own prejudices as Michael Eastman.

Dominick Dunne had many Gay friends.

The mini-series is good too. Ben Gazzara played Dominick (or Gus, as he was named in the movie), and instead of just leaving it at his daughter's death, Dominick took it one step further and allowed "Gus" to actually shoot his daughter's killer. No doubt because he wanted to be able to do the same.

There used to be an unoccupied grave next to Dominique in the same cemetery that Natalie's buried in. I wonder if Dominick is now resting next to his daughter.

Dominick Dunne was buried in Connecticut.

Thanks for the info!

You are welcome. How nice to have a civil exchange.

Does make for a nice change of pace, doesn't it? Too bad we can't have this kind of exchange on more of the threads here.

Dominick Dunne was buried in Hadlyme, Connecticut. His funeral was in the Roman Catholic faith held in New York and pall bearers included GAY writer Mart Crowley and GAY Lyricist Stephen Sondheim who were lifelong friends of Mr. Dunne's.

Perhaps I need to read through old posts to understand, but what's the issue with Dominick Dunne having friends who were gay? Those who are gay are still people and should be equally treated as such instead of being ridiculed or scrutinized because of their sexual orientation.

I think because Michael hated gays. He probbly don't know about the miniseries either. lol

Please, do re read his threads and posts on here. He is noted for his Christian posturing and homophobic rhetoric.
I don't understand how anyone who feels as he does can write an unbiased account of anyone who associated with and were great, lifelong friends of Gay and Gay friendly people all their lives as were the Dunnes.

The objectivity issue depends. Is Mr. Eastman writing the book based on the family's view and recollections or is being written from the viewpoint of the John Sweeney (the boyfriend who murdered her)? If it's done from the Dunne family angle, then yes, it may be difficult to separate personal feelings from the case itself, but if it's being done from the view of Sweeney, then you're dealing with yet another example of how rampant domestic violence has always been and how the authorities used to discount its importance. Especially if you consider that Sweeney and his lawyer managed to convince the jury that it was a tragic crime of passion and not murder, which resulted in a 6 1/2 year sentence for voluntary manslaughter that was then cut to 2 1/2 years because he was paroled.

Regardless of how it's written, there's not likely to be anything in it that could be more concrete or poignant than what Dominick himself wrote. He may have fictionalized it as way of telling the story and using it as a therapeutic outlet, but there's no mistaking the storyline of the book or film with the facts of Dominique's murder, which is exactly what he believed it was no matter what anyone else said.

This was posted on a blog regarding an episode of "Top Chef" in which Wolfgang Puck was a guest judge. So based on the post below while we wait for the author to finish enjoying his birthday and address the posed question, which side of the justice scales do you suppose the book is being written from?

Michael J. Eastman - Sat 08/22/09 8:20AM

He was recently quoted as saying, Today, so many young chefs want to be chefs in a restaurant, have a television show, (etc.) before they learn how to cook. He was implying that they are too ambitious today, and that he frowns on such ambition. Is it just today that young chefs are like this, Mr. Puck? Have you forgotten about a past young chef you once knew and trained back in the early 1980s who was a bit too ambitious for your liking, as well? I would have loved to have interviewed Wolfgang Puck about John Sweeney, but he probably would have declined my request. Cant say I really blame him. Who wants to remember that nightmare all over again?

Michael J. Eastman
Author: Murder in West Hollywood: The Dominique Dunne Story

Eastman is a homophobe who couldn't possibly delve into the lives of the Dunne's with an objective eye.
What is he going to do? Possibly beep out the names of the Dunne's Gay friends and associates including Gavin Lambert, Roddy McDowall, Mart Crowley, Don Bachardy, Truman Capote...the list would fill this entire post.
As a matter of fact many people thought Dunne was also Gay. He was not but he had absolutely no compunction in his friendships with Gay men.

But didnt the guy who killed her get tried and sentenced to 2 years or something awful like that? How can there be justice with double jepoardy? On the other hand if he tells everyone what the killers new name is and where he lives at least people can...well actually what can they do?

He got 6 1/2 years, but was paroled in 2 1/2, but your question of double jeopardy is precisely the reason I posted my original message asking if there was newly discovered evidence in the case, and the others regarding the book and film "People Like Us" and the view this proposed new book was being written from. Yes, John Sweeney was tried and convicted of voluntary manslaughter, but considering that he'd already had a history of beating up his girlfriends (the one right before Dominique was lucky and only got tossed down staircases and had her jaw and other bones broken a few times), do you really think that spending 2 1/2 years in prison is enough to stop an obviously jealous and violent control freak from taking a swing at the women he's had in his life since? If Mr. Eastman wants to write a book on something to do with this subject, he should use Dominique's murder as one of the key elements, but focus the story on John Sweeney so the people in the place he currently lives and others he may travel to will have an idea of the person that's really underneath his now supposed "clean cut" exterior. Then at least Mr. Eastman will be doing justice to Dominique's memory by potentially saving someone else from John Sweeney's wrath.

In TOTAL and COMPLETE agreement with you. I was a huge fan of Dominick Dunne's and I know that he never recovered from the dual shock of losing his beloved daughter and then watching her killer go free-to all intents and purposes. I have no idea what if anything can make John Sweeney or whatever he is called now uncomfortable. He is a man who as far as I know brutally killed a young girl and then happily went on with his life. A sociopath and unless he kills again he will remain free as a bird which is but one of the terrible injustices meted out. I just reread Patty Hearst's book hard to believe a kidnap victim served more time than the psychopath John Sweeney. If Mr. Eastman writes about the inequity in sentencing on cases like this one I think it would be a good book.

Not being rude here but this is the Natalie Wood board. There is a Dunne board on this site. I'm sure I'm not the only one who comes here to read the latest posts on Natalie Wood and find posts about Dominique Dunne instead. I fully understand the correlation between Wood and Dunne as they were friends but the posts are really going off track concerning the death of Natalie Wood.
Why not take your thoughts on the death of Dominique to that board?
Again, I'm really not trying to be rude just stating a thought.

Actually, I think we did it because the topic was started by Mr. Eastman when he brought up the subject that he was doing a book on Dominique instead of Natalie, and it seemed like a welcome change of pace from the threads that are filled with people mocking each other instead of being focused on the subject at hand, if for no other reason being that the details of Dominique's murder make for a more interesting discussion than what Mr. Eastman's views on the gay community may or may not be. Now that you've pointed out that there's a section of the forum devoted to the Dunne murder, I have no problem with the idea of moving this conversation over there. Thanks for letting us know there's another place to talk about it!

Me too, though to be honest I dont know that we will have much to talk about as for better or worse-much worse in that case the criminal trial happened already. And I am very interested in the Natalie case, she was special and beautiful and murdered-I reallly believe that, because the stories told until GNGS do not make sense and her killer has never had to face ANY justice, I mean not that sweet little Domingues killer received justice! I know this is about another thread but you two seem nice and I only want to talk civilly about the case of Natalie not trade insults with strangers so about that thread where it says Robert Wagner is maintaining a dignified silence...I say, if he COULD answer the accusations he WOULD answer them. I mean I by that standard of conduct John Ramsay and Scott Peterson are really dignified too, because they have never talked either.

Last post from me on this off-topic thread, but it's something I found on the portion of the site dedicated to Dominique Dunne, and lends itself to this question: If you're writing a non-fiction book based on the murder of a woman by her former boyfriend and you're not presenting anything that hasn't already been covered by the authorities as well as the family and friends of the victim, doesn't it only leave the murderer's side to write from? Considering what's written below, I think those on this thread who stated that Mr. Eastman's judgment on the topic may be clouded could be right. Now it could just be me, but saying that he's not going to take part in anything to harm Sweeney kind of further discounts the idea that this book is supposed to serve as justice for Dominique, because if Sweeney's walking around like "Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky" and this new book is supposed to shed light on the circumstances of Dominique's death without causing any harm to him, where exactly does the justice part come in?



Disclaimer
November 2 2009 at 7:14 AM
Score 5.0 (1 person) Michael J. Eastman (Login mjeastman)


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Although I am currently penning a book about this tragedy, I in no way condone people here or anywhere giving out John Sweeney's personal information. The way I stand on that is this: we are not members of the Dunne family, nor were ever her friends; therefore, it is not our duty to forgive or not forgive John Sweeney. Neither is it our duty to "punish" John Sweeney further. He was tried, convicted, incarcerated, and released. However unjust this is, the law has spoken, and it has been finalized, and nothing any of us do will ever change that sad fact. We can discuss it via books or forum discussions, but cannot do anything about the fact that he is walking around a free man. I will not willingly contribute to anyone's quest to harrass or harm this man. God will judge him and punish him as He sees fit. It's not our place to punish him; it's God's.

+Michael J. Eastman
Author: "Murder in West Hollywood: The Dominique Dunne Story" (pending)
Publisher: Tate Publishing, LLC

This belongs on the Dunne board so people interested in this case can deal with it on there as they see fit.
Easman is an unproven writer who I fear will allow his own prejudices to taint anything he writes outside the realm of his narrow minded outlook on life.

I agree. The Dunne topic belongs on the Dunne board. I understand that the two relate just as the Peterson case, etc. has certain aspects the same as the Wood case so they are mentioned on this board but posts are running entire contents on nothing but the Dunne case.
Could it be that Mr. Eastman is trying to draw up notice for his still unpublished manuscript so he has travelled back here and found the perfect place for it. The Natalie Wood board which is just about the busiest board on this site?

Go to the Dunne board with this story. You have been writing the same book for years. Give it a rest.