Checking through my manuscript of Murder in a Small Town: The Tragic Death of Stacey Burns, I found a minimum of six references to “Eddieland,” all of them directly attributed to Jim Vittum during the time he worked for Ed Burns on a logging operation and in personal contacts.
If I were Ed Burns or any of his family members, I’d be very interested in what Mr. Vittum had to say about “Eddieland” and would be especially interested in providing a rebuttal to what he had to say. This opportunity has been offered to Mr. Burns through any number of avenues, including registered letters.
So, to the Burns family, would you like to have a chance to respond? I am more than willing to tell your side of the “Eddieland” story, even if your attorney would rather not have you say anything.
As everyone knows, until something new develops, this book is going nowhere. However, I’d be very interested hearing the Burns’ family side of “Eddieland” which, as you may have guessed, is not very complimentary.
Duke
Eddieland is more of a feeling than it is a place. It’s in Winchester but it’s also a place right here in Wolfeboro,it’s in Natick, it’s where ever people refuse to see pure EVIL and instead cover it up.
Hmmm…I would love to know more about this “Eddieland”!!!
More please?
I remember when Jim worked with Eddie logging in Winchester. He’d been there for about three weeks, hadn’t been paid yet and had an empty gas tank. He called me on a Saturday and asked if I would wire money saying ” I gotta get out of here. These people are frickin crazy” . I wired the money, he came back to town and never worked with or for Ed again.
It’s a place where all is right in the world. My best example is one night around 10 pm when I was sitting w/ Ed’s mother and sister waiting for Ed so we could eat together. Ed walks in 4 hr’s late with wide eyes and great adventure. He starts out with this crazy excuse why he’s so late, (he was at the VFW bar in reality). Nanna “B” is well lit by then and interups Ed by saying “what are you on tonite Eddie?” I guess I was part of the family by now. Ed looks at his mother like “what did I do?” She say’s “Ed ;your just like your father”! he says a bit louder ;” and you were his bitch” Well, by now I’m thinking ‘this is gonna be good’, about the time the word ‘bitch’ comes out Ed’s sister comes across the table on the fly and takes Ed to the floor. He’s got a chicken leg in one hand and Leslie’s head in a lock w/ the other. O’l Bev takes a sheet pan from the stove top and clockes Eddie. I’m like “do I take off or should I save Ed?” then he stops and get’s up and say’s “why’d ya have to do that ma”and it’s over,just like that. Completely normal behavior in “EDDIE LAND”
I found Ed to be a guy that dreams big but everything he touches turns into a nightmare. From what his mother told me he was viciously abused by his father and at a young age pulled an attempted suicide move on some kind of highway billboard ? Personally I believe that was the point when he sold his soul to the devil. Stacey said he was “a narcisist” and got off on being violent. She said no matter how “good” she would be ( walk one step behind, eyes forward and no talking) before they would get in bed he would need to start a fight to get him excited. Eddieland is not a nice place.
I should say , Ed’s sister was the nicest, sweetest , caring person. Leslie carries her heart on her sleeve, she can cry instantly about something happy or sad. She loved Stacey.Both Ed’s sister and mother were very nice to me during my stay with them. When Ed was not around things were very normal, as soon as he showed up it was all about him and most of it was B.S.