Slog - Comments on Arthur Miller's Secret Son http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret I'm a little late to the party on this, from Vanity Fair: For all the public drama of Arthur Miller's career—his celebrated plays (including Death of a Salesman and The Crucible), his marriage to Marilyn Monroe, his social activism—one character was absent: the Down-syndrome child he deleted from his life. The revelation has inspired some hand-wringing among people of a certain age who are shocked that Arthur Miller, Our American Conscience™, could have packed his son off to an institution and, according to the article, "never publicly acknowledged the existence of Daniel" and "apparently never visited him." It's a pathetic... Copyright 2008 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 11:04:09 -0800 Sat, 01 Sep 2007 19:47:33 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by tsm It's not surprising for those familiar with his lesser-known work, "All My Sons - Well, Except for That One".

]]> tsm http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret#c793695 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret#c793695 Arts Thu, 30 Aug 2007 11:58:26 -0800 Comment by Just Me I, for one, applaud A. Miller!! Whatelse should you do to ANY of your children? If he made the error and had a child he should lock it away in an institution, boarding school, military school ect.

That is the only way to have children! This way they are never seen nor heard. Here Here!!!!

]]> Just Me http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret#c793710 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret#c793710 Arts Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:10:35 -0800 Comment by Eric F Preferably, the young'uns won't know him at all, having been spared being dragged with their class to a production of the Crucible and the inevitable after-show discussion making its themes relevant to whatever they're supposed to be relevant to today.

]]> Eric F http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret#c793816 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret#c793816 Arts Thu, 30 Aug 2007 13:50:05 -0800 Comment by amazonmidwife I'm betting that he and the child's mother were given the advice to "put him away and forget you ever had him" from their doctor. It was pretty standard at the time

]]> amazonmidwife http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret#c793876 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret#c793876 Arts Thu, 30 Aug 2007 14:40:10 -0800 Comment by Sweetie People in the midwest still do this today. I had a coworker in a midwestern city who at the time was in her mid forties (about two years ago) whose family put two brothers in institutions. One brother had Downs Syndrome while the other was severely Autistic. In this same office another coworker sent her teenage daughter off to a "convent school" run by nuns in another state because she got knocked up. This stuff still happens just not out here on the left coast.

]]> Sweetie http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret#c793882 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret#c793882 Arts Thu, 30 Aug 2007 14:44:56 -0800 Comment by Bauhaus A lot of people thought Miller was an asswipe for the way he abandoned Marilyn when she needed him the most. He's a hard man to pin down - his memoir, Timebends, is a beautiful, thoughtful work by a man you'd assume was a fairly righteous dude. But like Capote, the more I hear, the less I like. Doesn't mean that I like their work any less, but it diminishes greatly the infatuation I might have had for the person.

As Joni says (talking about Miles), "We must allow our geniuses their demons."

]]> Bauhaus http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret#c794016 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret#c794016 Arts Thu, 30 Aug 2007 16:28:46 -0800 Comment by Katelyn The advice may have been common... but that doesn't make it right!

This is unfortunate news.

]]> Katelyn http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret#c794070 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret#c794070 Arts Thu, 30 Aug 2007 17:18:43 -0800 Comment by Beatriz As a mother of a severely handicapped 30 year old boy who is a joy in our home I must say I'm disapointed and sorry to see that A. Miller was, after all such a weak human being.And the child's invisible mother? Coudn't she have a say?
And it's still done in the Midwest?Well it is NOT DONE in my small lovely country-Portugal

]]> Beatriz http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret#c794114 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret#c794114 Arts Thu, 30 Aug 2007 18:25:25 -0800 Comment by Moses Tietlebaum Face it.

The guy was a self rightous pompous FRAUD.

You know the type. Treats all their plas like a million bucks and their family like shit.

Fuck him..................a RAT.

]]> Moses Tietlebaum http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret#c795178 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/arthur_millers_secret#c795178 Arts Sat, 01 Sep 2007 19:47:33 -0800