He was just carrying out a legitimate journalistic search for Deep Throat... <|:)~
Posted on 09/20/2002 11:31:24 AM PDT by IncPen
Susan Lynn Taylor was in her early 20s, right out of North Central College in Naperville, when she did something that many young women seem to have done over the years: She wrote a letter to former Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene, complimenting him on a column. This was about 1983.
"I lived out in the Hinsdale area and worked downtown, in a hospital,'' Taylor told me. "Bob wrote a column about a woman who had breast implants--they were becoming popular. I had had the same surgery. So I wrote him and said, 'Gee, I really liked your column, it presented a balanced view of women who had this done.' I got a call from him.''
I heard from Taylor, needless to say, in the wake of Greene's dismissal from the Tribune, after 24 years as a columnist there. The Trib dealt with Bob's bedding of a Catholic high school girl as a unique anomaly, and readers have been outraged after his dismissal over what was presented as a single transgression.
When the reality is--how shall we say this?--the existence of women such as Taylor does not come as a surprise to those in the news business in Chicago. The Tribune's position, focusing on one case, is like a man coming home drunk and saying to his wife, "Yeah, I had a beer, so what?''
Taylor is a vibrant, upbeat woman in her early 40s now, married to a doctor, living in Milwaukee, the mother of a 3-year-old. Her voice is cheery.
"I wanted to share a laugh with you about Bob Greene,'' she said. "I met with him for dinner, being young and impressionable, and had an affair with him myself.''
This was the great ignored mystery of this week's scandal. One intriguing subject, left unaddressed between all the vocal support from his fans and unrestrained chortling from his detractors, such as myself:
So what was it like? How did the process unfold?
The former Mother McAuley student who touched off Greene's professional flame-out is nowhere to be found. But here is Taylor, ready and eager to talk. Which leads to the first question: Why? What would motivate a married, fortyish woman to want to dredge up her two-decade old affair with a disgraced columnist? She sees it as a lark, a kick.
"I suppose it's just kind of a 'Gotcha!' '' she said, which sounded about what a person who would do something like that would say.
So, back to the story: She writes Bob and he calls her . . .
"He said he wanted to know if he could meet me--he said he wanted to hear a 'different perspective,' '' Taylor said. "I was in my 20s. He was a celebrity, so I really didn't care.''
They go to dinner at the House of Hunan, the Chinese place that used to be on Michigan. They're talking.
"When Bob wants to have something with you, he's the most charming gentleman there is,'' she said. "You think you're the only woman in the world. It's a finesse he's honed over the years.''
Dinner is winding down. How does he make his pitch?
"He wanted to know if he could see my breasts,'' she said. "It sounds weird, in the abstract, but if you were a player, you would be laughing. It's probably a typical scenario.''
And how did she react?
"I didn't care,'' Taylor said. "I was single. He was married. I said, 'Fine' and we went to the Marriott. They must have a corporate account. We had a drink, went up to a room, then started a sexual relationship.''
And ...
"It was pretty traditional, normal sex,'' she said.
That was their last dinner. The relationship lasted a couple of months--he would call, they would meet in a hotel room for sex. No trips. No gifts. No promises.
At the time, Bob's book about his first child, Good Morning, Merry Sunshine, was about to be published.
"Society's weird,'' Taylor said. "He has all this love and endearing feelings toward his daughter, and yet he would engage in this potentially destructive behavior. He was guilty. He expressed some things about trying to stop this behavior. I thought that was odd, but people are complex.''
The relationship lasted until Taylor began to care for Greene. "As soon as I started to express an interest in him, to express feelings, he cut me off,'' she said. "He refused to let me in the building. At the time I was hurt and rejected,'' she said, realizing now she "was trying to get my self-esteem through somebody else, trying to find a lasting relationship with someone unavailable. Maybe I just wanted my 15 minutes.''
Still, looking back over 20 years, Taylor feels only sorrow for Greene, and is not bitter.
"I don't have any bad feelings about Bob Greene,'' she said. "I have fond memories. He's a fine person and excellent writer. The guy isn't a total scum because he has this character defect. What is curious to me is why somebody who is so accomplished at this stage of life has to seek out the approval of young women in order to boost his self-esteem. I hope this is a wake-up.''
A Jewish variation of clinton's disease?
He was just carrying out a legitimate journalistic search for Deep Throat... <|:)~
Too late for a wake-up, IMO. It's now all downhill for him. A bitter former journalist for the city newspaper. Tsk Tsk.
Some things don't change...
He bit his lip dontchaknow?
/s
It's the Oprah 'confessional mentality', where people set aside their dignity for a few minutes of fame.
Imagine being her kid...
Imagine her husband at work, the whole world knowing this....
Plus... she has fake boobs!
So what is he, only partial scum? Wonder what his wife thinks.
I wonder what her doctor husband thinks.
Cordially,
Ashland, Missouri
Poor Bob... I often read his columns.
I guess he will move on.
Imagine her husband at work, the whole world knowing this....
Plus... she has fake boobs!
Exactly...and this is the kind of thinking that enables her to say of her long-lost "celebrity" paramour...
He's a fine person...
YUCK!! I can't believe she's a NCC alumna...IMHO, this is just disgraceful...!!
Somehow, I don't think "self-esteem" has very much to do with it.
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