For those of us who grew up on Maurice Sendak, this was the first children’s book that wasn’t afraid to scare you as a child. It didn’t treat children’s minds as premature, but rather as curious and unafraid of the what the world could hold.
It’s too sad that Robert found where the wild things were, 1509 Swann Street.
Yesterday was officially “Where the Wild Things Are” Day in honor of the birthday of this celebrated children’s author, who was born on June 10, 1928.
It’s officially the day to honor children’s literature, writers and illustrators.
As many readers know, defendant Dylan Ward is a children’s literature author, and is schooled in children’s lit theory to boot holding a Masters degree.
In Paul Duggan’s piece he notes:
“When a friend in Taipei, Taiwan, opened a small publishing business in 1999, Ward joined her. The company, called House of the Tiger Aunt, produced storybooks, which Ward helped write, and other materials used to teach English in Taiwan’s primary grades. That got him interested in children’s literature theory, and in 2001 he began studying for a master’s degree in the subject at Boston’s Simmons College.”
We have also listed some of the children’s books credited to Ward previously. Do we think this has great impact on the case? Not necessarily, but we do think their backgrounds and experiences are essential to explaining who the residents of 1509 Swann Street are as individuals and as a family.
And we know where the wild boys are now. McLean.
– posted by David
Also: June 10 also marks exactly eleven months until the May 10, 2010 trial and the September 11 status hearing is exactly three months from today.
A few more things I have been thinking about:
1. I re-read the Dylan Ward arrest warrant affidavit. It says Wone was found in a tshirt, gym shorts, and underwear. Maybe I am being too picky here, but why was Wone wearing underwear? According to Ward he had showered just before bed…did he then put back on his dirty underwear to sleep in? Did he bring a pair of clean underwear just to sleep in (even though he had shorts to put over it)? I guess only his wife could verify his sleeping habits.
2. The missing blackberry emails of 11:05 and 11:07 are extremely important. If they are real, we know all the action took place between 11:07 and 11:49, if they are fake, we know that by 11:05 Wone was already killed and the cover up/clean up had begun. One possible theory is that Wone was attacked very soon after arriving at the house (around 10:30pm). This would give Price and Ward more time to come down from a possible ketamine (or other drug) high and clean up. Victor may have been sleeping the whole time as Wone was drugged, taken somewhere (one of the bathrooms?), sexually assaulted and killed. The stabbing may have been part of the sadistic assault. After all, Wone was already incapacitated and could have been killed more cleanly by smothering him with a pillow (no blood that way and an intruder could have also done that). Victor may have then heard the breathy grunts he described, but perhaps they came from Price and Ward as they struggled to move the body. Or perhaps one of the men went outside to hose off or dispose of evidence and the door chime first woke Victor.
I apologize if I am being too blunt in my posts. I mean no disrespect to the victim’s family and friends. I just wish this terrible tragedy could be resolved.
NYer,
No apologies needed for being blunt. We need people to be blunt if we are going to talk about this case honestly and in a forthright manner that will help justice to be done.
David, co-editor
sometimes I feel like I’m watching high school newspaper class at work here. you insult people’s intelligence by drawing these vapid and facile connections. wish you and the other “authors” didn’t feel the compulsion to post when you have nothing concrete to add to this important discussion
Boy, people really get worked up about the author “connection.”
I find it interesting insight into Dylan. His lack of direction.
Hmm…….today I think I’ll be……an electrician.
lol!!!
As a friend of Robert’s, I appreciate NY’ers sensitivity. Sometimes the bluntness on this site is hard to read.
I know it’s my choice to read it and I also know and am thankful that everyone is trying to help, put a spotlight on this. It was wonderful to see his photos last week.
But sometimes it feels that people posting get caught up in the thrill of this mystery and even as they do express sadness, some (only some) seem more passionate about the sensational aspects of the case, in scintillating conjecture or in finding the best way to put down the three men charged.
I only speak for myself, but thank you NYer.
Anon – We’re sorry for the loss of your friend.
Putting together last week’s posts was difficult and emotional but certainly nothing like the loss Robert’s family and friends like you have suffered. We were entrusted with those pics and texts to help draw a better picture of him as a person and we hope we accomplished it.
Point taken about the bluntness often expressed here. This project has proven to be a contact sport and we thank you for sticking around.
I’ll ask is to contrast what’s on these pages against comments from other sites in the wake of the Post series. Overall, we saw more light generated here than heat. Thank you for sharing.
The pic from “Where the Wild Things Are” are left to right, Victor, Joe and Dylan.
Dylan is the small elf with the dildo on top of Joe, right?
Ha. Yep and I’d say he conquered Joe.
What are the odds that Dylan’s previous children’s stories will ever again be read to little Alec? More likely he eventually one day read that “Alec has Two Jail Bait Surrogate Daddies.”
oh that’s a good one.
I have been thinking about Dylan- he is somewhat of a drifter, a wanderer, from what I’ve read.
Trying to paint the picture, Joe and Robert were great friends. Both successful on all accounts, with advanced degrees, both in committed, loving relationships. They also shared a very special bond as Monroe Scholars- my associate who went to W&M tells me that that specific cohort is very exclusive (7% of the student body) and that they spend much of their time together, creating bonds that can last a lifetime.
Dylan, on the other hand, had spent his life so far drifting in and out of places, and careers. Perhaps when Joe talks about Robert, he feels some jealousy, also perhaps feelings of inferiority? Maybe he doesn’t like that Joe holds his respected friend in such high esteem?
Maybe Robert was a problem for Dylan? I am not sure if that has been looked into. I mean no disrespect, I am just thinking that from afar, it seems jealousy might play a part in this? It is after all, a very strong emotion that has historically driven some people to commit crimes.
Jessica,
I’ve often wondered if Dylan was a jealous lover. Afterall, he was relegated to the 2nd bedroom.
I just can’t imagine being in a “relationship” and being given a backseat like that. And I certainly can’t imagine going to sleep at night thinking that the person I love is sleeping “upstairs” with his No. 1.
Victor had said that they were working on making Dylan an equal partner …..perhaps there was a jealousy problem that caused this kind of decision-making to take place.
I have brought up a couple of times whether Joe ever slept with Dylan when Victor was at home.
That’s an interesting point. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to think that Dylan might have been motivated in part by jealousy. The next question that occurs to me, though, is why wasn’t Victor more “jealous”? Perhaps I mean to ask, why was Victor okay with Joe bringing a third person into their marriage? Is Victor’s willingness to subjugate/put aside his own interests just another signal that Joe absolutely is the dominant force in his romantic relationships? Or could there be another side to Victor that we’ve all missed so far?
As an aside, I’m not sure that the fact that Joe and Robert both were Monroe Scholars is enough to create a tie in itself. Their friendship came more strongly from other, shared activities, it would seem. For one thing, remember that Joe and Robert were not freshmen together. Much of the Monroe Scholar bonding happens freshman year, especially because many Monroe Scholars (at least at the time Robert was a freshman) lived in the same dorm.
Maybe Joe treating Victor like a “primary” relationship appeased Victor enough to allow Joe to pursue his other sexual interests.
“you’re no. 1, honey….gotta go, dylan is waiting…”
Seems like he played them both for a fool.
I do believe, however, Victor didn’t sit aside twiddling his thumbs while Joe and Dylan dallied. I wouldn’t doubt that Victor participated in certain aspects of Joe and Dylan’s sexual relationship. Voyeur, perhaps? Maybe even a vanilla 3-way here and there. Dylan was in that house for sexual gratification. Why wouldn’t Victor participate in that, as well?
Re jealousy, what about Joe? Perhaps Joe was jealous of Robert.
From my perspective, Robert was much more accomplished than Joe. He not only was successful at his chosen career, but Robert touched the community in many ways. His new position had an international reach. Robert strikes me as the type of person that would make a difference in a larger sense. Joe? Not so much. Successful attorney? Yes. Community work? Yes. But was he going to make a big difference in the world? I don’t think so.
Speaking to the Monroe Scholar point- I think that Joe was actually Robert’s mentor, if I have that right? And they became very close during those years. Maybe I interpreted that wrong from what I’ve gathered, but it seemed like they became very close in the “mentor/mentee” relationship.
Jessica, I remember reading that someplace.
Yes, the Post article describes Joe as Robert’s “guide” and as “helping him navigate law school,” suggesting the mentor/mentee relationship, at least for a time. It doesn’t say that Joe himself was a Monroe Scholar or that Joe was formally assigned to be a mentor. I’m sure that some of the former Monroe Scholars following this blog can refresh our memories about whether Monroe Scholars were assigned “mentors.”
My point simply was and is that there clearly was plenty that tied Joe and Robert together over the years, and I don’t expect the Monroe Scholar issue to add much to that.
I was a Monroe Scholar during this time. I do not recall a formal mentorship program. As someone else already mentioned, the closest links between Monroe Scholars formed during the freshman year, when most Scholars lived together in a designated dorm. Therefore, Scholars from different years did not normally have such close association. There were other opportunities for them to form a strong bond, however. The two probably were members of some of the same clubs and organizations. W&M is a small campus, and Joe and Robert already knew each other well from Robert’s pre-freshman year visits (the campus tour and the overnight student event). I’m certain this led to a growing friendship between them, and Robert may have viewed Joe as a mentor in an informal way.
But, IMHO, Robert trumped Joe.
Of course there was more than just being Monroe Scholars. As has been mentioned before, both Robert and Joe were active in the student gov’t, the 13 Club service fraternity, and then later the Wm & Mary Washington DC alumni network. Wm & Mary is a small campus. People really got to know each other there. And they were both in the DC legal community. There shouldn’t be an implication that they had a relationship with gay overtones just because they met in college and stayed in touch over the years.
Thank you.
the truth will prevail in time and there will never be peace for the animal(s) that took his life.