Sex. Murder. Mystery(229)

“I couldn't believe the BBC having been treated like this. Having the doors been opened, invite us in, take our coat, sit us down at the table and say, 'You aren't expecting any food, are you?' “

At one point, James Kent recalled Susan Howards telling him in a phone conversation that he had “progressed this film prematurely—before having all the consents.”

He found the statement outrageous.

“Hold on,” he said he told the Boston attorney, “I have a go-ahead from her lawyer. I have a go-ahead from the subject of the film. I've spoken to the subject of the film repeatedly who told me an interview would happen, but to just be patient. I've got access to her good friends. At what point does one embark on a film?”

James Kent had a thought that he knew was as true as anything he learned about the Letourneau case: She was let down by those around her.

* * *

Within the group of “friends” who became enmeshed with Mary Kay Letourneau, cause célèbre, there was one whom the others would consider a traitor—Maxwell McNab. As Kate saw the situation, Max was a “starving writer” who ingratiated himself, won the confidence of Mary Kay and her supporters, and burned them with a tell-all article in Mirabella. Mary Kay felt that she and her friends had been used and betrayed. Max had said he was writing a screenplay.

“He got close to her and sold his soul for seven grand to Mirabella and wrote an article that he never acknowledged he would write,” Kate said later, still bitter.

But Maxwell went further, an irritation that outraged her friends and harmed the convicted teacher's “fund-raising” efforts. Kate heard from other media sources how Maxwell had continued to peddle his so-called inside information to other shows. A&E producer Jeff Tarkington called Kate in Chicago about McNab and his offer of material for money.

“Do I need him?” he asked.

“No,” Kate said firmly. “He's an outsider and he's trying to get back inside. He was on the inside and he twisted the knife. I'll give you all the information you need.”

Articles about Mary Kay Letourneau were translated into German, French, Spanish, and Dutch. Outside of America it was seen as a love story, pure and simple. The idea that Americans passed judgment on it had more to do with a gut reaction springing from antiquated, deep-in-the-culture, puritanical roots than whether it was really wrong.

It seemed to Mary Kay that the lack of understanding surrounding her story was driven by the media. Whenever information about her love for Vili came out, it brought knowing snickers.

She and Vili had a secret code, a way to say “I love you” without others knowing. It was through a look or things they did—anything at all—with their left hands.

“I know some think that sounds juvenile, but I don't care. It is quite pathetic that people take everything, dissect it, and pronounce its worth by calling it juvenile. It was a way for us to say we loved each other, and we'll use the same ways when I'm a hundred years old,” Mary Kay said later.





Chapter 78

THE SEATTLE FREELANCER for Spin magazine, Matthew Stadler, had been a friendly contact for many of the journalists stopping off in Seattle to court Mary Letourneau, and more critically it seemed, her lawyers. Among those he met with was James Kent, whom he found very straightforward and ethical, nearly an island in the sea of garbage that had accumulated around the story since it went worldwide with the second arrest and the disclosure of her second pregnancy.

James Kent later refused to say much about his Seattle meeting with book ghostwriter Bob Graham, other than to say the tabloid reporter was “very dismissive of the BBC and said, 'Go home, boy.' “

Matthew Stadler called it a setup arranged by Bob Huff. “It was dinner at the 'OK Corral.' He literally told James to get out of town, this was his. It was humiliating and horrible and he hated not only Graham, but Huff for setting the whole thing up.”

Bob Huff later admitted that it was important to send a message that the Letourneau story was not for the taking.

“I remember Bob Graham and I getting pissed off at the other guys. We wanted to protect our interests. There were all these people buzzing around our pile a crap and we wanted them out of here.”

After the kiss-off from Bob Graham, ostensibly the author of the French book about Mary Kay Letourneau, James Kent's resolve became even stronger. He'd press on with the story. He flew to Chicago to see Kate, the college friend, whose frequent collect calls from Mary had been one of the chief means of information concerning Mary's support of various projects that involved her.

According to James Kent, through Kate Stewart, Mary had indicated that she still supported the BBC film and wanted to remain involved.