RE: PORTER-GAUD SEX ABUSE SCANDAL
Dear Editor,
The article you have put up on your website is a disgrace even by the pathetically low standards you typically employ. It dishonors the memory of many wonderful men who took their own lives due to the reprehensible abuse of Eddie Fischer, including that of my very close friend and classmate.
I lived through the Eddie Fischer era and was well-familiar with the pattern of behavior and conduct he used to try and endear himself to his potential victims. I also had a son graduate from Porter-Gaud two years ago and have a son currently enrolled. I am equally well-familiar with the person whose reputation you have recklessly and maliciously chosen to impugn in your libelous article. I can tell you unequivocally that the pattern of behavior between the two was not remotely similar. One was a predator and the other is guilty of nothing more than taking an interest in his students’ well-being. Certainly, there are some teenagers who bristled at his efforts to keep them on the straight and narrow.
I know the ladies who are pushing this story and take pity on them. One in particular is desperately searching for a reason, any reason, to make sense of her son’s death. It is not a surprise that she is doing so as any parent who has lost a child to suicide would do the same. She is not being well-served by her close friends who have fed an inaccurate narrative. Unfortunately, it is not easy to try to rationalize what is fundamentally an irrational act.
In closing, it is particularly distasteful that you have chosen to piggyback on the fine work that my very dear friend and classmate, Paige Goldberg Tolmach, has so painstakingly to put together. Paige is an individual of the highest moral and ethical standards and has worked hard to put together a factual journey through a painful period in our lives. Shame on you.
I can only hope that the person you have defamed in your thinly-veiled reference chooses to hire Johnny Parker to continue to make your life even more miserable.
Sincerely,
Thomas B. Pritchard
Charleston, S.C.
***
SIC SEZ …
Thomas: I appreciate your feedback. This news site did our level best to show discretion in handling these very sensitive allegations. Clearly we fell short in your estimation, and I’m sorry to have disappointed you. Having said that, I believe the subject matter was handled appropriately in our prior coverage – as it will be moving forward. As to your hope that Johnny Parker is retained by unnamed individuals to “make (my) life even more miserable,” I’m afraid your faith in his ability to inflict misery upon me may be misplaced. By all means, though, keep hoping. I welcome such an action.
***
WANNA SOUND OFF?
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our stories? Please feel free to submit your own guest column or letter to the editor via-email HERE. Got a tip for us? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question? CLICK HERE. Want to support what we’re doing? SUBSCRIBE HERE.
Banner via iStock