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A Death in White Bear Lake : The True Chronicle of an All-American Town| Media: | Paperback | | Author: | Barry Siegel | | Publisher: | Ballantine Books | | Release date: | 28 November, 2000 | | List price: | $7.50 |
| Our price: | that is 100% off! |
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| A Death in White Bear Lake : The True Chronicle of an All-American Town |
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Average rating:  |
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Chilling Story of Child Abuse in a Small Town |
The 1960's were a different time. A murder case required a witness or a "smoking gun". Battered Child Syndrome was a term that was still just an idea in someone's mind. These two facts meant that justice might never come for a three-year-old boy named Dennis Jurgens.
"Death in White Bear Lake" is a meticulously researched story of Dennis Jurgens. Dennis was adopted at the age of one and placed with a seemingly average family in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Despite scattered clues that the Jurgens' family may be unsuitable to have children, Dennis was placed in their apparently warm and loving home. The decision proved fatal after Dennis fell down a flight of stairs leading to the basement.
But is that what really happened? The book does an excellent job telling the horrific story of how the system failed Dennis, as well as five other children adopted by this family. It also tells of how politics in a small town as well as the way the laws worked in the 1960's almost prevented Dennis from ever getting justice as well as how people turned a blind eye to child abuse rather than standing up for the defenseless victims. Finally, it tells the story of Jerry Sherwood, the natural mother of Dennis who has not seen him on over 20 years, only to find out he was allowed to die by the society who felt she could not provide the life that Dennis deserved.
The book is meticulously researched and well written. The book is so detailed that it seems that it was written as a movie script rather than a novel. Sometimes the book felt more like reading a long news article. I found the beginning of the book rather slow reading, to the point where I actually put the book down for awhile.
I'd highly recommend the book to people interested in a sad story of true crime. I am not sure if the paperback version contains the photographs in the center, but I would recommend not looking at the pictures until finishing the book. The pictures actually will give away the ending of the book.
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| A Death in White Bear Lake : The True Chronicle of an All-American Town - Barry Siegel |
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Superbly researched and written |
| Incredible book. I could scarcely put it down, and since it's a mighty thick book, I found myself bringing it with me everywhere to read it at any free moment. I was disappointed that I couldn't find any other non-fiction work by Barry Siegel. He has a real gift for writing in this genre. |
| Barry Siegel - A Death in White Bear Lake : The True Chronicle of an All-American Town |
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Disturbing |
| I found this book to be quite disturbing, it was well written, chock full of information and research. I never knew that before the 60's most people were never charged with child abuse most of the time, because most believed that a parent could never do that to their own child. What I found most horrific was that most of the relative's were aware of the abuse of dennis and turned a blind eye toward that evil woman, lois. And her husband Harold? what a loser! he deserved jail time for his complicity in the crime. |
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