Almost two months ago, I posted a rather light-hearted skeptical takedown of a guy by the name of Don Lemmon, who billed himself on his website as The #1 Nutritionist Online. The main gimmicks of the post were twofold. First, I poked fun at his selling of dessicated animal glands, in which he harkened back to a 16th century alchemist and physician named Paracelsus to justify what appeared to me to be a variant of the quackery known as live cell therapy. The second part of my schtick was to feign envy at the success that he appeared to be having over it all, marrying a retired porn star, living in St. Georges, Utah, and hanging out with celebrities like KISS. The post caused a mild ruckus which, as these things do in the blogosphere, quickly died down, and I forgot about it.
Then, about a week ago, a couple of comments reminded me of the post. First, Don Lemmon himself posted two comments on June 8. It was almost certainly him, as the IP address from which the comments originated traced back to St. Georges, Utah, which is where he lived. I seriously considered posting an answer to him as a separate blog post during the day or two after that, but for some reason I didn't. Then, two days later, another comment appeared:
According to the message board found at http://www.liesandpropaganda, Don Lemmon died in an auto accident on June 11, 2006. He leaves behind his pregnant wife, Asia, and his one year old daughter.
I wasn't sure what to make of this, and didn't want to register for Don's forum to find out. A brief Google search turned nothing up; so I thought nothing more of it and even considered deleting the comment. Then, a few days later, another comment appeared:
So DOn apparantly was killed on June 10. What I want to know is if they were so rich then why is Asia soliciting donations on her homepage and on ivillage???
That sounded rather cold to me, but since a second person was now posting this claim, I decided to check it out more seriously. Since then, I've confirmed these reports and verified that Don Lemmon was indeed apparently killed in a single vehicle auto crash outside of Las Vegas on June 10 while driving home from a business meeting. An obituary has been published here, and his wife Asia Carrera has written about it (warning: although this particular link is work safe, much of the rest of her website is not). Reading her description of being given the news is enough to break your heart. It also makes his comments to my original post seem rather creepy, given that they were posted a mere two days before his death and that I had mentioned Don in passing in this post just a day before his death. Even though Lemmon's death doesn't change my opinion of the altie aspect of his business, I'm now really glad that I never wrote that snarky followup post, as I had been strongly tempted to do after Don took me to task.
The ironic thing is that I guess I might have been right after all about life's being unfair, just not in the manner I had intended when I wrote that post. Don's dead at a young age. His children will grow up fatherless. No way around it, that sucks regardless of my low opinion of the claims he made on his website for his supplements or my light-hearted little stab at his self-constructed image. Worse, his pregnant wife's pleas for money now make me wonder if Lemmon was as successful as I had assumed that he was from the fantastic descriptions he posted to his website. Maybe it was all hype; I have to wonder now.
Either way, altie or not, Lemmon didn't deserve to die that young; his wife didn't deserve to be made a widow at such a young age; and his children don't deserve to be robbed of their father. Nobody does.
More like this
this woman is quite interesting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia_Carrera
/did your potential snarky comment include "when life hands you lemmons..."?
Several years ago someone on alt.asian-movies asked, in a thread about Lucy Liu, why "top asian actresses" like Asia Carrera didn't get asked to do movies. His other two examples were porn actresses as well.
Not that it really matters, but it's St. George, Utah, not St. Georges, Utah. Just FYI.
J (on another, closed, thread) writes:
Probably not true. Porn stars in the heyday were making maybe $800-1000 a day, but then again a typical porn movie only took a day (or two at most) to shoot. That's why they make so many movies. Still, even making 30-40 movies a year, plus promotional activities, it's not big bucks. Maybe 40-50 grand a year tops, before taxes and expenses. Nowadays they get even less with extra-cheap imports and dirt cheap 'amateur' videos crowding the market.
40-50g a year is a lot of money. Imagine that some people actually provide for a family on that or on even less.
I know enough of the family to post this. I know for a fact that no matter whatever money they made or didn't make. Asia doesn't work and has not worked for a while. Now she is left with no job, no car, a 15 month old and a new baby coming. All their bills and Don's business which she had little to do with. Not to mention the grief she's dealing with. Why wouldn't they need money??
btw I make 50g a year and I have 3 kids and a husband. I'm not living the rich life believe it or not. And w/o my husband what in the world would I do financially - only god knows.
And for those of you who just don't get it. If you make money- you also increase your living costs- house-property-business and such. How is one supposed to pay for it all w/o the main caretaker gone?
You haters just need to go take your theories and go find someone living and well to trash!
May Don R.I.P - Aisa ((Hugs)) to you and the kids
Who are you to judge? Your comments are totally unnecessary, and to speculate what his family has been through, you have no idea. You have no right to post the message you did. So what if Asia needs help. If you knew just 1/10th of the story, you would have never said what you did. The fact of the matter is that Mr. Don Lemmon passed away, and instead of you giving the family grief, be compasionate and give understanding and hope. If I found out if one of your loved ones died, and all I did was talk bad about them or look for something trashy to say...How would you feel?
Don Lemmon's life is NOT your business, and his family is none of your business either. If you don't support them, you are not needed. There are many faithful family and friends that want to provide help, because that's what friends and family do in times of crisis. Shame on you, and this blog. At least, have a little respect that he was a loving husband, that he did everything in his hand possible to help other people, even served in the United States Army to protect the freedoms that the Bill of Rights provide you with. It's a crying shame to see people like you. You give americans a bad name. Don Lemmon, Rest in Peace. Asia, my sentiments to you and your family. Don will be missed.
V / R
Soldier
To whom are you referring? I hope it's not to me. I was actually quite sympathetic to Asia's situation and somewhat taken aback by the hostility in the comments of the original post.
Nonetheless, my sympathy for a widow and a man cut down in his prime does not change my opinion that Don's claims for his supplements were dubious in the extreme.
Have you indeed independently verified the information of Don's passing or have you just garnered this info from the Obit and Asia's website as posted above? I ask because something very fishy seems to be going on in relation to Don's death. The obit was a paid obit done by Asia herself. Anyone can post one regardless of whether the person is really dead or not. The information about Don's death is coming solely from Asia. There are no independent reports out there on the car accident or his passing (that I have been able to find). There is a porn website that mentions Don's death (no doubt posting it because Asia has told them about it) and the Kiss website sends its condolences as well (stating that they had "heard from Asia" that Don was dead). There is also a radio show website reporting his death and asking for donations, but this site just happens to be one of Don's business partners. There are reports that even Don's lawyer did not know he was dead until "Asia informed him of this fact." Further, who solicits donations IMMDEIATELY after the police leave your house? The most interesting tidbit, however, and the one that has caused me to be the most suspicious, is the following information about Hyapatia Lee. Lee is one of the ex-wives of Asia's ex-husband. Also an adult actress, in 1998 Lee attempted to fake her own death. The ruse was quickly uncovered as a scam to encourage liquidation of her memorabilia via her fan club. The incident served to close the door on her career in the adult film industry. Asia remains very close to her ex- husband (Bud Lee) and it would not surprise me at all if this is a scam in order to sell merchandise on both she and Don's websites, in addition to soliciting funds from unsuspecting persons.
VR Soilder:I hope you are not talking to me. I DO know their family and I was defending them - not trashing them. I have a lot of respect for what they are going through and how they feel. - okay. I just don't get there are ppl who will sit here and keep asking if the poor man has passed away or not? I mean what kind of sick ppl are you? How would you like it if you posted someone in your famly passed away. And all ppl could do what wonder if you are lying or not!
And "HOPE" I know he has passed away. His family even posted and obituary, not that seems to matter to anyone. One of our close friends has been over at their house to help - he is definitely not there. I mean are you alright in the head ??to have the time and engery to go over soemthing so horrible in your head over and over again?
So if someone I knew did something similar. then I should be afraid to tell the world my husband passed away- since I would be dumb enough to run the same "scam" and hope ppl are dumb enough. You are an idiot!
Orac - I don't think I care for what you think of supplements. I was talking to ppl trashing this tragedy!
I thought I saw the guy last week at a wal mart... I think we might have another "Elvis case" on our hands here.
Just some thoughts....
Asia posted in their own site/messageboard about how obsessive she was about money hording. She claimed she made tons in the porn industry, and put it all in stocks and bonds. She was always afraid they would need it. She talked about how it came from her childhood -- moving away from her family at such a young age with nothing. There are also numerous posts throughout the internet about what a great gambler she is (she is a claimed member of MENSA) and how she wins big and invests it all.
I also remember when they had their daughter, Catalina, Don got life insurance. It was a big deal that he posted about on his messageboard. He was embarrassed with the lady who came for the urine drop --- she came into the bathroom with him & watched.
So, the question is, if Don had life insurance, purchased in August of 2005 if I remember correctly, (which I read Don's message personally -- he wouldn't have been turned down for it, he claimed he was in great health) and Asia is a money hording genius....Where is all the money? I know they didn't buy lots of clothes and such. They spent lots on food and travel and computer stuff -- but they should have their living expenses covered, especially the house and cars, etc.
Why solicit cash online if all the other things I got first hand (from their messageboard that they wrote) were true? I have found many things that were lied about when it came to Don's business and their real life. They didn't always practice what they claimed. Nothing too serious, just little slips here and there. There was enough slips to make me think that maybe, just maybe, there is something "fishy" going on here.
Asia called her ex-husband, Bud, immediately after she found out about Don. Maybe the thing about faking the death has some merit. She and Bud are still close. But, where would Don be? Hiding out in Mormon country? He took pictures of it all the time -- and he and Asia stuck out like a sore thumb!!!!! Can't imagiane that Asia would do this to the brand new baby boy, Don Jr (born in Aug 2006, after Don Sr's death) or to Catalina (born March 2005), but I don't know them personally, and don't think many people really do. Knowing them online is not "personlly". They always spoke about having VERY few friends.
Interested to see what happens in the next few years with this.
::Confused:: I am not going to argue with anyone about what they think of them "online" I do know them personally. I can't say how "online" but I physically know them. I haven't been on their personal websites or read their boards...so I have no comment on that stuff. But ppl will always have there conspiracy theories - I guess. I only responded at first- cuz his death was just too sad for me.
One cynical aspect of Asia's whole money thing is that she has never declared any income from her website to the IRS for California or Utah tax authorities from 1996-now. She also failed to declare that income when she filed for SSI after Don's death. Another "omission" was the fact that she had an investment portfolio of over $100,000 when she filed for SSI and had gotten more than $100,000 in donations from well-wishing, but perhaps gullible, fans. Now Asia has gotten a life insurance settlement of about $1,000,000.
She has cashed in on her fans, on the insurance company and the US, California and Utah taxpayer. She owes taxes to the government and her filing for SSI is highly questionable. Seems like the law has been violated.