Can't believe the Washington Post would be OK with this

No disclaimer, at least on the online version, other than a note that some names had been changed, and I'm pretty sure I checked the print version at some point and there was nothing:

http://www.esquire.com/features/steven-kazmierczak-0808

I believe the writer was mostly a novelist before this piece.

 

Just had this come up in past few weeks and asked some highly respected writers for some advice. The piece would be about someone who died and the family did ask to preview the story. Consensus was it was okay, with the understanding that they would not be the editors, etc. Might be moot as I'm not sure if the story is happening but it was good to hear from folks who have been at it a lot longer than I have.

Definitely think there's a difference between a feature like that and an investigative piece.

 

Just saw at my library that piece was turned into a book. I don't remember in the magazine story if the writer talked about how he once dreamed of being a school shooter, so I think the book's expansion deals with that. Not sure if the intro from the mag is also in the book.

 

Honest and, I think, fair question: Why should we believe him?