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Original poster

Do you remember the big hoo ha about Julie Myerson's book about her son?

31 replies

MmeLindt · 04/09/2010 07:59

What has happened since

I found this veer sad:

The upshot was that in March of this year, he quit the course.

'They took it fairly well,' he says sadly, of his parents. 'They have become quite accepting of my ability to change my mind and screw things up.'

OP posts:
diddl · 04/09/2010 08:01

I can´t help that he will keep "screwing up" as that is all that they expect of him.

TheJollyPirate · 04/09/2010 08:02

Agree with you diddl - very sad that their expectations of him are so low.

ArseHolio · 04/09/2010 08:07

God, his parent have ruined his life. Poor kid.

diddl · 04/09/2010 08:14

That said, I don´t know what I would do if my son was taking drugs.

I wouldn´t write a book, though!

ValiumSingleton · 04/09/2010 08:16

oh bless, the poor boy. I wouldn't have wanted my mother chronicling all my varied and numerous failures. I feel for him.

Eleison · 04/09/2010 08:19

Looks like he has inherited the family gene for spewing out private life in return for cash/celebrity.

UnePrune · 04/09/2010 08:24

The sad thing is that he has initiated contact with them.
WIth the benefit of age, I can say quite categorically that some parents aren't worth that.
It's hard not having them around, but it can be harder having them around when you are the one who made that happen: you realise daily what an absolute mug you've been.
In the most awful way, he had a clean break, and that's spoiled now. Clearly the parents are only going to carry on being crap. What she did was utterly unforgivable. The poor kid's normality is pretty warped.
I am sure they were pretty desperate when things were bad but to make money from him in that way was sick.

Original poster
MmeLindt · 04/09/2010 08:43

Eleison
I am a bit torn about it. One the one side, his parents did the unforgivable when they shared the intimate details of their children's lives with their readers for fame and profit.

He is however, still willing to talk to the papers about it. Wonder if they contacted him.

OP posts:
cyteen · 04/09/2010 08:44

So now he's the subject of a snide article as well as the subject of a poisonous book. Whoever wrote that interview is an utter wanker.

Original poster
MmeLindt · 04/09/2010 08:47

Yes, very much the snide comments dressed up as concern about him.

Will his mother now come back with a rebuttal

OP posts:
LadyBiscuit · 04/09/2010 08:54

Daily Mail in 'snide attack dressed up as concern' shocker Hmm

Poor bloke :(

diddl · 04/09/2010 10:36

But I agree it´s a horrible article.

Nobody, imo looks good.

It is a shame he quit & didn´t show everyone what he is capable of.

That I think has just played into his parents hands.

ragged · 04/09/2010 11:02

Gosh, I didn't read the article at all the way you did. Even with the usual Tabloid effort to exagerate every quote to mean 10 things it didn't.

So...

  1. He sold his story to the Mail (yet again) for money. It's not like he or they publish this stuff out of altruism. He wanted probably needs the dosh.

  2. He now admits that skunk was terrible for him and much worse for mental-wellbeing than regular MJ (exactly what it says in the book -- have any of you actually read the book?).

  3. He uses the article to make lots of pointed criticisms about his parents -- he is as responsible as his parents for wanting this dispute to be played to be played out in public.

Can't see that either side is somehow blameless. Can't see that Jake Myerson has any genuine desire for privacy, frankly -- he didn't make much effort to stop publication of The Lost Child, either. And he hasn't published a volume about his side of the story because it's too much like hard work!! Newspaper articles are much quicker & easier ways to get money.

I'm not that interested in this family, honestly, I just liked Living With Teenagers a lot so tend to vaguely follow. Don't even comprehend why Jake's parents get called the bad guys as though even at 19 we still mustn't expect him to take responsibility for his life.

diddl · 04/09/2010 11:15

I agree that neither side is blameless.

Why did he start taking drugs so young?

Creamlegbar · 04/09/2010 11:18

Oh do excuse me, I posted this in chat.

I think the headline is misleading.

It does not sound like much of a reconciliation at all to me.

I thought he sounded quite sensible on the George Michael remarks.

Original poster
MmeLindt · 04/09/2010 14:32

Ragged
I think that is a little harsh. Didn't we all do things in our teenage years that we regretted later? Only difference is that my mother did not write a book about the time I went to Norway to see my on again - off again boyfriend without a job, return ticket or even enough money to keep me when I was there, just a vague idea about maybe getting work as an aupair.

And it was not the first time she has written about her a family, depite denying it to her son for years.

OP posts:
diddl · 04/09/2010 14:35

I wonder if him taking the money to study & then not completing the course was his way of "paying his mum back" for the book?

ragged · 04/09/2010 19:20

My guess is that eventually he'll spin this into being a Radio DJ, or a newspaper commentator; the fame of it (being a notorious out of control teen) will actually help his long term career future and economic security.

I don't really care if she writes about her family, tbh. She wouldn't make a living out of it if there wasn't a big appetite for this stuff. Arguably... heck why don't I be extra-controversial here -- there is a case in favour of people like her telling all; after all, the Myersons are such a "nice" middle class family, we can see that they made good decisions in most of how they raised their DC. Kids like theirs aren't supposed to go off the rails... but if they do, isn't it a saluatory lesson for all of us about how drugs can ruin any life, no matter how hard the parents tried (and were socially/financially able to try) to do the best?

wb · 04/09/2010 19:41

Possibly my own views have been warped by my own experiences but I admired Julie Myerson for speaking up.

When my brother started getting into marijuana at 16 my parents were terribly forgiving and understanding and supportive (of him, not the drug use), even when he was robbing us blind. After months of covering up for him, they forgave him for dropping out of college, paid for him to take another course which he again dropped out of, paid off his dealers as he ran out of money to save him being beaten up etc etc. All this went on for years. My over-riding memories of my teens were the tensions at home and the shame - we were never allowed to acknowledge to anyone, ever, that there was a problem. I couldn't have friends home cause I couldn't explain why everything was locked up and why they had to keep their purses on them at all times.

20+ years on, my brother is still at home, now a heroin addict and my parents are still supporting him financially, baling him out and covering for him.

Having a drug addict in the family is corrosive and horrible and I reject totally the notion that admitting this publically is wrong.

maryz · 04/09/2010 20:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

wb · 04/09/2010 20:43

Maryz - so sorry to hear that Sad.

When I finally allowed myself to talk honestly about my brother/teenage home-life (I was about 28 at the time) it was a huge relief. All aspects of living with an addict are tough but the constant need for secrecy and pretense were probably the worst bit. It is great that you are enabling your kids to be open about it. Ironically when I did talk to my friends I found I was far from alone but that's another story.

Original poster
MmeLindt · 04/09/2010 21:04

Wb and Mary
I do not judge the Myersons for throwing their son out, or for writing about it and I even agree with Ragged that writing about it could be a positive thing, warning other parents etc.

Still, she could have done that under a pseudonym and saved all of her children from the shame.

OP posts:
southeastastra · 04/09/2010 21:06

i read the headline in the paper (yes i bought the daily mail) and turned over. who cares

atswimtwolengths · 05/09/2010 07:28

He didn't finish his course because he was on drugs, not because of his mother! There are not many people who can successfully complete a year's study when they using skunk.

ValiumSingleton · 05/09/2010 08:25

To start off with I think it was anonymous, didn't she write this under a pseudonym to begin with, but people quickly worked it out. I seem to remember that that is what happened, but I could be wrong. It was a couple of years ago now I guess.