Link: ARIE LETTER TO NELL
This morning a fan sent me a copy of a new posting by Mr. Den Dulk in which he addresses this matter and asserts, "I checked my correspondence and tape recordings with Mrs. jackson, but have not found any request by the family [to remove Leo's photos/name]. Jim Reeves fans should not believe everything they read."
He further claims "Leo may have initially been a friend and helped him when Mr. Jordan started to work on his book. He trusted him and foolishly opened up, giving him personal information he shouldn't have done. Mr Jordan's tapes will confirm this."
(Note: Leo is the one who convinced me to write my book on Jim and was helpful to me every step of the way, including right up to the time of his death).
For years, Den Dulk's site has been a sanctuary for the lunatic fringe on the Reeves fan scene to post thousands of personal attacks not only on me, but my family, friends and other Reeves fans. For a long time he promoted the URL of a trash site (ultimately shut down when the FBI became involved), that even contained crude sexual attacks on my then-teenage daughter. He has frequently misinformed fans as to the facts of Jim's life, and lately pretty much handed over his site to David Bussey, (a former fan club president from years ago whom Mary Reeves ultimately disavowed), to post the most ridiculous and quarrelsome attacks on my book, "Jim Reeves: His Untold Story," even though my reporting is solid and based on hundreds of taped interviews with credible sources, Jim's own files and even his personal diaries.
It is also worth knowing that within hours of when Leo died in 2008, Den Dulk posted on his website that HE KNEW IN ADVANCE LEO WAS GOING TO TAKE HIS OWN LIFE, BUT FIGURED HE COULDN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. So he took no action. Can you imagine the inhumanity of that?
Also within hours of Leo's passing, Den Dulk phoned Nell and claimed he wanted to do a tribute to her husband for his newsletter, but had no photos! He specifically asked her to give him a copy of the picture of Leo auditioning for Jim, which he KNEW was to be an exclusive for my book, which had not yet gone to print. (I had surprised Leo with a copy of this photo — which he had not even known existed — and he proudly displayed it in his home. I had asked Leo to please not share the photo with anybody until my book was released, and he honored my request. But Den Dulk saw the picture there during a brief visit to Leo's home. So he knew the photo existed and also was well aware it was not to be distributed prior to the publication of my book. But he so desperately wanted it, he manipulated Nell — who was still in shock over her husband's violent death — into giving him a copy of it).
As Julie and I have also informed you, Arie Den Dulk sent horrible correspondence to Nell Jackson, including letters and emails, intruding into her private life. In one, he claimed to know the truth about a paternity dispute (even though Leo claimed to his dying day NOT to be the father of a girl whom some allege was his biological daughter). Den Dulk hurtfully told Nell that her husband was “sometimes disrespectful about you, your son, and some of his 'friends.’" He claimed outrageously that Nell had not only “discredited” herself “but Leo too.”
With Nell's permission I am also posting one of Den Dulk's letters here, so you can see the offensive manner in which Arie upset a woman who had just lost her husband of 50 years.
(Since part of the letter deals with a private matter involving third parties and paternity claims, I am protecting the privacy of those individuals by redacting parts of the letter).
Anyway, with regard to the latest post, I called Nell Jackson this morning and just as I suspected, she was outraged.
Nell confirmed she has sent "many" emails telling Den Dulk how she felt. Quoting her verbatim, she said: "He's out of his mind. I believe I told him that if I had it my way, he would never be able to use Leo's name or picture. I can't stand that s.o.b. and if I could keep him from mentioning Leo's name, I would do so. Leo is no longer here and if, as his widow, I have a right to say I do not want it there, I would do so. If I had any rights at all, Arie Den Dulk wouldn't be allowed to use my husband's name in a sentence. If he was in America we could sue him for slander and stuff like that, but we don't have any kind of legal rights overseas…" (Actually, Nell may be wrong about that).
Nell and I reminisced about the scathing letter that Arie Den Dulk sent her immediately after Leo died, in which he tried to hurt her by flaunting Leo's infidelities.
"It's horrible," she commented. "It was after we had that falling out. Ever since he got mad at me that time, because I wasn't doing him and what that darn Anderson guy was wanting, and I told 'em all. I did. And I wrote Arie Den Dulk a really bad letter and email and told him he was going to die a lonely old man because he was a miserable human being."
(Nell was referring to the fact that both Den Dulk and a U.S. friend of his were in contact with her about wanting to obtain some of Leo's prized possessions and she turned them down).
With regard to Arie's statements about Leo's behavior with other women, Nell asserted "Everybody talked about how honest my husband was, how he called it like it was. Leo told me...it might have been a week...before he died, that he NEVER, EVER, [impregnated the woman to whom Arie referred]. Never. He said 'if that baby's mine, then it was immaculate conception.' Leo would have told me. Hell, he told me about many girls [whom he saw on the road] while we were married, that he went out with. And you know what? I DON'T CARE. I loved my husband. He made mistakes."
Nell Jackson also shared with me the fact that, by happenstance, her son, Leo Jr., "accidentally ran across [the scathing letter]" recently. "And I'm not kidding you...[he asked] 'what is this, mom? When did you get this?' I said 'oh, I've had that for quite awhile. I didn't care about you reading it because I didn't want you to get upset.' And he was almost crying he was so upset about it. He was so mad. He said 'is there anything we can do...? How DARE he write that type of stuff.' He said 'daddy would never have talked about you or me to anyone like that...[especially to] Arie Den Dulk.' You know, husbands and wives get mad a lot of time and we say s--t that we don't believe or mean. But I don't think he would have done it to Arie."
Nell Jackson summed up the situation by saying of Mr. Den Dulk and his cohorts, "None of them can tell the truth because they're all frickin' liars and users and they are so jealous of you that they want to be the only Jim Reeves fan [club] and they want to have the only artifacts or memorabilia. They don't want anyone else to have anything. You know? It's a damn shame."
I asked her permission to post her comments and she readily agreed, adding "Make sure that you let them know that I'm adamant about my dislike for that s.o.b...." I just did Nell.
To read one of Arie's poison pen letters to Leo Jackson's widow, Nell, click below. It is convoluted but you can also see he chastised her for cooperating with Julie and me! And he signed it "Kindest regards."
Does anyone seriously believe that Leo Jackson would be endorsing Mr. Den Dulk's website or actions after the way in which Arie has treated Leo's beloved wife?
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