Sue Klebold, the mother of Columbine killer Dylan Klebold, is said to be writing her memoirs which will deal with the ‘indescribable grief and shame’ she has had to live with for 15 years. Also, all proceeds from the book will go to charity and mental health research. So does this mean that the Klebolds are finally accepting responsibility for the events on April 20th 1999? While that remains to be seen I doubt it.
In the past during rare times that she has spoken to the media she has made excuses for her, her husband Tom and their hellspawn. In 2004 she told the New York Times that “I haven’t done anything for which I need forgiveness.” In 2009 in an essay she wrote for O Magazine she basically admitted how clueless she was when it came to her son and again she admitted as such in a 2012 book about children who commit crimes. So you’ll have to forgive me if I think the book is going to be anything but more of the same.
But I hear you say “She’s not being paid for the book.” Of course she isn’t, not directly anyway. The only reason the proceeds are going to charity is because the families of the real victims of her son would raise holy hell if she took even a penny. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways to get compensated especially if the book takes off.
Then again maybe the guilt has finally gotten to her. The article states that she’s been wanting to write this book since Sandy Hook. That’s more than fitting since just about every school shooter has paid some tribute to her son and his cowardly cohort Eric Harris. Cho Seung-Hui, Stephen Kazmierczak and Adam Lanza all viewed her son as a hero. She has it within her power to try to end that kind of veneration of killers. Whether or not she chooses to use that power responsibly remains has yet to be determined.
Real Crime with Trench Reynolds 
I’m probably going to be crucified for this comment but here goes…. I feel really sorry for the parents of these kids. I live in CO and I have to tell you that they have been through hell. The anger and abuse they have received is no more than they have heaped on themselves. Yes. They made mistakes. No way did they think their kids were going to commit mass murder though…
They really did try to raise their kids right. They weren’t abusive or absentee parents. The problems that they faced (the ones they knew about) weren’t that much different than many families go through. It would have been nice if they had found all the clues that looked so obvious later, or the arsenal, but they didn’t. Most kids outgrow the rebellion and stupidity, without ever killing anyone in the process. I don’t think Sue Klebold has any motive other than to try and tell what happened, in case it can help other parents to stop future tragedies. I don’t know the family personally but I think she is sincere in her grief and bewilderment.
I don’t mean to imply in any way that the hell the victims and their families have been through is any less than Sue Klebold’s.
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Thanks for the comment Lori.
It’s my opinion however that the Klebolds had a severe case of ‘not my kid’ syndrome. From what I’ve read it always seems like they were trying to cover up or excuse their son’s actions by blaming someone else.
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You might be right. I don’t know. I also don’t know the ‘right’ way to react if your kid does something so heinous….
Maybe the kids that killed their parents first, before they went on a rampage were more merciful…. I just don’t know.
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I completely agree with you.Lori. Susan Klebold, who was not to know that her son would do something so hideous, has been through an unimaginable hell, and deserves compassion, not judgment like the self-righteous article above – shame on the author for rubbing salt into a traumatised mother’s wounds. You are experiencing failure of imagination. I will happily buy Susan’s book, and I hope the writing of it has brought her some healing.
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Such books are a waste of time. What can she write about her son that will be of any use to anyone?
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Exactly I agree. I was at vines high school when our school heard about it. A lot of kids at my school in 99 felt guilt over columbine. Especially my school. In Sept 99 a football player Brent Austin went into the school bathroom with a gun and shot himself. There was more to that story then people think because our school had trench coat members and jerks made up rumors at my school about one of my guy friends , making threats to the school but it was. a lie. My friend was a cool person.
This behavior teenagers develop towards each other needs more study
its not just one bully anymore, its kids bullying each other and setting each other up. I always wanted to be popular but I came from a broken home and got sucked in by jerks. I’m blonde and bubbly now but I stopped hanging around Goths, sometimes there more stuck up then jocks and preps. Sometimes they think everyone is against them and nobody understands them so they rebel. After living in lakewood co I can see how conspiring people are and that’s why me and my bf stay to ourselves. My boyfriend was an acquaintance to Dylan before I met kevin. He once told kevin he was planning something in 98 and that he would see it on the news later. Its weird how nobody picked up on it. But I pray for all the souls lost that day including susan. I know how tragedy can effect ur mind and how embarrassing it is for people to assume what happened even if they were not there. Thank God they legalized weed its so much better then zoloft and video games.
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What the heck are you talking? We at vines, felt no guilt and columbine had nothing to do with us. I went to vines as well and if you did then you know who I am. If there was more to the story then you should have said something instead of nothing and neither did anyone else. We didn’t have a trench coat mafia, we had Goths and the goths just wore trench coats especially when it was cold. So don’t try to insinuate something that had nothing to do with us. Columbine was an disaster. I doubt you went to my school.
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