Tallahassee! The Tragedy!

Though I was initially fascinated by a salacious "scandal" in my sleepy hometown, I'm starting to think everyone should leave Robert Olen Butler and his broken heart alone. It's a hard position to justify ("Do you think Britney Spears should be left alone?") but I think this will be my standard: Public figures should be given attention in exact proportion with the amount of attention they seek -- maybe less, but not more.
Mr. Butler's email was itself irresistible to the media, but he had the choice not to "clarify" it to the press (until he did, it was being interpreted by some, including me, as a master work of subtle passive aggression instead of something Michael Scott would write) and he has the choice now to go back to doing what he does best. In other words, Mr. Butler, if you're Googling yourself, and I hope you're not: take the cardinal rule of blog commenting, flame wars, and hate emails and apply it to this: Say nothing. Do not respond or allow your friends to respond. Don't feed the animals.
UNLESS this is all just a publicity stunt to sell future books. In which case: I think you win.

Comments

[ruby]

My problem with this guy is that he should know that any email sent with ANY private information isn't ever really private. E-mail, by definition isn't truly protected, or private, or whatever. If he really felt he needed to say such personal, private things to certain people, perhaps he should have picked up the phone or discussed matters in person. Call me old-fashioned but I never detail such items in a mass email. I'm not saying he had this coming, but he certainly lacked any sense of etiquette or sense dealing with his life, and the private matters of his wife.