I've been getting a lot of new information about Fr. Gerald Robinson since my talk last week. It seems to go in spurts -- nothing for a while and then a lot in a short period of time.
One of the more interesting tidbits I've heard this week is from someone who knew Robinson when he was a child. This person said Fr. Jerry had an altar in his basement when he was a kid ... No word on whether there were any animal sacrifices.
She also said she was not surprised that he was convicted of murdering a nun. She said he had a mean and dangerous side to him that most people never see.
This person also said the priest's mother often scolded him not to talk about women the way he did. That jibes with what one of his cousins once told me. She said Fr. Robinson's mother used to slap his wrist and tell him not to talk about women that way -- not just when he was a teenager, but even when he was in his 40s and 50s and 60s.
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I had an hourlong discussion yesterday with a couple of filmmakers about turning the book into a movie. It is still in the preliminary discussion stages, but everyone seems to think this would make a great movie. I am rewriting my "movie treatment" based on our talk yesterday and I think it is really starting to flow.
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8-year-old Christine, a Ugandan orphan who has been with Watoto for 3 years. She was one of the three girls who stayed at my home. She wants to be a teacher someday.
We had three Ugandan orphans from the Watoto Children's Choir stay at our home Sunday and Monday. What amazing children! I'm going to write a column for Saturday's religion pages about these wonderful kids who were abandoned but now have lives filled with hope and love and a bright future.
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Sanctus Real's new disc, "We Need Each Other," comes out today, the band's fourth for Sparrow Records. This disc is so great, I can't praise it enough. The Toledo group keeps growing as artists and musicians. It's clear that the new CD is a big artistic step forward, now all they need is a little break... They deserve everything they've got, they work so hard and are such humble and sincere guys.
Toledo, Ohio
Feb. 12, 2008