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The New Yorker this week has a long article on Dan Mallory, a Duke grad who wrote a best seller "The Woman in the Window." Evidently he has a long history of lying about his health and other issues. I saw something in LA Times where he acknowledged it.
Wondered if anyone has any comments. I graduated way before he was on campus and have not read the book. Can not figure out why anyone who would say make these false statements about themself.
Thanks
SoCal
Duke isn't a very small school, and we have the alumni to prove it!Quote:
Originally Posted by SoCalDukeFan
(Dick says, "Hi!", and last I heard he was "tanned, rested, and ready!" Others say "Hi!", too...)
-jk
That article ends my "what is the most bizarre thing I've read today" contest. Wow.Quote:
Originally Posted by SoCalDukeFan
One of the crazier snippets (and like how is it possible to choose among them?). It sounds like this one may have been true, but who knows.
Quote:
This strategy apparently failed with Princeton. In the article, Mallory recalled writing to Fred Hargadon, then Princeton’s dean of admissions. “You heartless bastard,” the letter supposedly began. “What kind of latter-day Stalin refuses admission to someone in my plight? Not that I ever seriously considered gracing your godforsaken institution with my presence—you should be so lucky—but I’m nonetheless relieved to know that I won’t be attending a university whose administrators opt to ignore oncological afflictions; perhaps if I’d followed the example of your prized student Lyle Menendez and killed my mother, things would have turned out differently.”
Yea, I read the very long article in The New Yorker and it was bizarre and disturbing (if true), to say the least. Again, if true or mostly true, he has very serious psychological issues and he did come out yesterday and admit that he had repeatedly lied and exaggerated over the years about many aspects of his life. Among other things, he blamed the fact that he is severely bi-polar and has suffered from deep depression. Although a psychiatrist interviewed for the story yesterday said that there was no connection between bi-polar disease and blatently lying and deceiving people about your life. I'm not sure anyone fully understands why people act in this way?Quote:
Originally Posted by SoCalDukeFan
That section from the New Yorker story (quoted above) about his letter to the Dean of Admissions at Princeton, after he had been rejected, was actually somewhat amusing (at least I laughed when I read it). But I guess Princeton saw something about him that they did not like, as opposed to Duke.
The article suggests a pathological liar who uses(d) said lies to benefit his career. He apparently did so in his graduate school application/essay to get accepted. He did so numerous times in his early professional career to achieve promotion. And he apparently continues to do so. It's not good if true, and I have no reason to believe that it isn't true.Quote:
Originally Posted by SoCalDukeFan
Dan was in my cohort at Duke. I didn't know him, or at least I don't remember him. The sad part is that he's obviously very smart and talented, but it takes a pretty awful person to do the things he is reported to have done, including but very much not limited to:
- lying that his mother died of cancer (she did have cancer, but is still very much alive)
- lying that his father left them (his father and mother have been married for decades)
- lying that his brother committed suicide (also still alive)
- lying that he had terminal and/or not-so-terminal cancer in order to take lots of time off from work, likely in order to write his book
- blaming his lies on bipolar II disorder, a legitimate mental illness that would not cause someone to do these things.
It's really awful because he's using mental health as a crutch for his career, and in doing so he is making the social stigma of mental health worse for people who truly suffer from it. It's really despicable.
I've known more than one person with bipolar disorder and have known them to do unusual things. One, while living abroad, briefly became convinced that he was some sort of demi-god who was able to control the actions of those around him. He eventually checked himself into a hospital. These don't seem outlandish to me at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by CDu
Disclaimer: I am not a mental health professional.
And that is exactly what Dan wants people to think.Quote:
Originally Posted by BLPOG
The mental health professionals have already noted that this type of lying is NOT attributable to bipolar disorder. His lies have a singular pattern: to benefit him professionally. People who have legitimate psychoses or manic breaks are not able to control them to their consistent professional benefit over a 20-year period like he has.
Amazing and creepy stuff...if I were him (thankful I'm not) I might worry about the karmic implications of lying about all kinds of terrible things that didn't really happen to him...does he feign being blind to get on the airplane early?
Fascinating article - I just got around to reading it. It sounds like his behavior became fairly well known, but now that it is extremely public, I am curious to see how he moves forward - one would think that people will generally be pretty skeptical about most anything he says. Despite his "success," he doesn't reflect very well on Duke.Quote:
Originally Posted by SoCalDukeFan
I briefly had an employee who had a very loose regard for the truth. There was nothing that harmed anyone, but some of his stories were very easy to check and were clearly made up. I fired him after about four months, primarily for incompetence, and after he was gone, I was made aware of a number of other lies he was involved in. This was about ten years ago and I periodically check up on him on LinkedIn - it seems like he is unable to hold a job for more than a year. Interestingly, he has an older brother who is brilliant and incredibly accomplished in his field - I don't know what type of relationship they have.
Melinda Gates was close to my cohort. Reportedly, many of her sorority mates didn't remember her when she got married. As I suggested, Duke isn't a small school. Lots of room for a variety of folks...Quote:
Originally Posted by CDu
-jk