"My name is Lenny. I was Richie's best friend when his life was taken away by his father. I know how it all went down on the night that it happened. He did not have to be killed. Richie's father was not a nice man. He didn't like any of Richie's friends."
Lenny passed away in 2010. His parents got him help after Richie was shot to death by his father, an expert marksman, when Richie was under the influence of disabling drugs and could barely stand up.
Lenny was successful in the printing business, and became a loving husband and wonderful father to his two children.
Lenny was successful in the printing business, and became a loving husband and wonderful father to his two children.
You can find comments by Lenny on this blog. Lenny never got over Richie's death. He saw the good side in Richie, and knew that Richie, had he lived, would have overcome drug abuse.
You are welcome to post a comment on this blog.
Please include your state or country; it emphasizes the fact that addiction exists everywhere.
My mother was friends with Richie as well,
ReplyDeleteHer name is RoseAnn Hammargren
WHO WAS THE GIRL SUE IN THE LIFE MAGAZINE ARTICLE WHO WAS PHOTOGRAPHED LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW? SHE KNEW RICHIE.
DeleteSusan bernstein
DeleteI remember watching this on TV and my mom was also watching. I was on the couch in back of her quietly crying throughout the movie. I was so struck by the parents trying to help Richie and get him help. My parents never did anything like that for me.
ReplyDeleteI remember the movie when it aired in 1977 on NBC and I was a senior in high school in Indiana. I didn't watch it, however it was the main topic of conversation the next day. All the students seemed to side with Richie. A common phrase I heard was, "His father didn't give him a chance." What was the story of what really happened? Heaven only knows.
ReplyDeleteLets face it the dad was a hero he stopped his son from massacring the rest of his family. Richie was the neighbourhood bully and his druggie friends were just as bad.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Diener Snr I salute you sir for protecting your family from a drug crazed son you had no control over. You'll always be a hero in my book sir. RIP my friend.
ReplyDeleteI don't see George as a hero. He was an excellent marksman and should have shot to injure Richie only. Richie was high and could barely stand as seen in the movie which was approved by George Diener. He took aim and killed his son. I was not a friend of Richie but he seemed personable and nice enough in the halls of EMHS. I clearly remember when a friend walked into class and she told us. This was a devastating tragedy and nightmare for everyone in East Meadow. It haunts me to this day.
DeleteYou don't know what you're talking about. There's no shooting to "injure" or wound someone outside of TV or the movies.
DeleteSomebody here went to military school. Wasn't there 9-1-1 by this time? George was responsible for the murder of his son and should have done time. Call it aggravated if you want, but if Richie could barely stand, how is that a fair fight? Whoever wrote the wikipedia article has sure picked sides. "Inside, a villain named 17-year-old Richie" ... That's not even good writing. No one is named 17-year-old anything, and villain isa loaded word. What about George's villainy? He knew that family therapy was needed and wouldn't participate. He didn't do all he could do to save his son, because it hurt his ultra-conservative Nixon-voting pride.
DeleteI feel for the entire Diener family. I find this to be a sad preventable tragedy. I reccomend the book over the made for tv movie. This is a lesson on how the courts, law enforcement, the school and the family failed Richie. Most importantly Richie failed Richie. There are a million missed opportunities to of prevented how Richie's life ended. I have empathy for all those who were a part of Richie's life.
ReplyDeleteWell put.
DeleteBarbara, what was the name of Sue/Sheila who was photographed looking out the window?
DeleteReminds me of the BH Love case, after they found the graffiti.
ReplyDeleteRitchie flopped out, he was a walking talking she'll of an individual, George Diener did the right and only thing he could to protect the rest of his family.
ReplyDeleteYour politics sounds as if you're grown up. However, until you learn how to spell, especially in the day of "spell check," I care very little for what you have to say! Time to go back to the drawing board.
Deletehttps://youtu.be/D6_U-jiLXxc
ReplyDeleteI would like to dedicate Gene Clark's American Dreamer to George Diener, we salute you sir, you have no fault my friend
I lost that article decades ago and do not remember so could not tell you who she is. I'm sure there are many people who could answer that. It's a tragic and painful part of our formative years and I would rather remember the good years and the joys of growing up on LI.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izxDbT-wqhk
ReplyDeleteAll this calling George Diener "sir" and everything. Seems like a few people here went to military school and voted for Nixon. I'm sorry, but one can shoot to injure, not to kill. The police do it all the time. Richie's problem wasn't drugs. It was an overbearing father and anger he couldn't express but masked with drugs. I still say Diener used unnecessary force, "sir". And who says Richie was trying to massacre his whole family? The fight was between father and son.
ReplyDeleteNo the police don’t. They are trained to go for center mass to incapacitate an deadly attacker as quickly as possible.
DeleteTotal bullshit his problem wasn’t drugs what a joke
DeleteGeorge Diener thankyou for your service sir. We salute you sir. You are an American Hero. Amen to you sir, amen
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine using a gun against my child but I know the turmoil that family was going thru because my own son did the same. And jail was the only answer I had after he fractured my orbital bone when he punched me in the face.
ReplyDeletePpl can't judge what the dad did. No one knows what they suffered inside their house, watching their son become a stranger before their eyes.
See that Lenny died in 2010 and that statement was put up in 2014.
ReplyDeleteI have been upon this very tragic story and now have the original publication of the book called Richie. I’m still reading it and it is a very sad story about what addiction can do to a family and how addiction can make people act. I am extremely on the fence as to whether or not the father was justified in what he did. Regardless of what his son did he still had no right to take his life but when you’re dealing with an addict day after day , the roller coaster rides, the mindfucking it gets to you. Sadly, I had a treasured loved one addicted to alcohol, and I have to say if I didn’t have anybody with an addiction in my life, I might just say the father had no business shooting his son. However, when you know what he and his wife had to deal with every day, it does give you a little bit of sympathy. Nevertheless, only God can take a life. I read the book, and Richie sounded like a very pleasant and friendly person, but when he took those substances, he was possessed. You could obviously see the peer pressure started it the desire to fit in . In the book, his dad seemed determined to work with him and try to help him. I think back in the 70s people were just becoming aware of what drugs can do and didn’t know quite how to handle it. In any event, may God rest Richie‘s soul And the souls of his parents. I also want to add that if this happened present day, I believe this is how it would’ve played out: George would’ve been arrested and tried for second-degree murder. Carol would’ve been arrested for standing by and not doing anything and Russell would have been first placed in foster care and then place with relatives.
ReplyDeleteAnd one more thing just to reiterate, again in the 70s people were only starting to become aware of the bad effects and the drug use and didn’t know quite how to address it. I think George was probably unfamiliar with counseling because things like this were just brand new at the time and he, of course, was set in his ways because of the way he lived. it is a shame because you can see in the book when Richie was clean he was a pleasant and good person. However, he made a conscious decision to ingest substances.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been reading the book Richie, and in particular towards the end during the funeral. I’ve commented here before that I am on the fence about his father, shooting him. If it’s true what they said that the father says that he hoped it taught Richie’s friends A good lesson, I think that’s a very arrogant statement he made in view of what he did. He may have been heartbroken but to state what he did now I’m thinking why didn’t you just shoot to your son?
ReplyDeleteI meant to say, why didn’t you just shoot to wound your son?
ReplyDelete