Behind the scenes of the Jaycee Dugard editorial

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Ever wondered how an editorial comes to be?

The Opinion L.A. blog posted excerpts of an email discussion among members of the editorial board about an upcoming memoir by Jaycee Dugard, who was kidnapped as a child and held for 18 years by her captors. She was repeatedly raped and bore two children.

Was it ‘sad and strange’ for her to write such an account, and so soon?, Editorial Page Editor Nicholas Goldberg wondered in his opening email to the board.

Michael McGough said he agreed, but that it would be ‘strange to seem to lecture her on deciding when to tell her story.’

And Karin Klein added, ‘Her public persona has been that of victim. ... This is a chance to emerge from that embarrassed privacy, to assert some self-control over a life that has had little to none, and perhaps to have fame based on the image of her as a strong survivor, and one who wrote a book.’

The discussion, which lasted about an hour, led to Wednesday’s editorial, ‘The Jaycee Dugard Story.’