Local woman remembers Dominick Dunne

"He was an enigma, and he loved Camp Sherman," said Joyce Osika.

Dominick Dunne, film producer, journalist, author, husband and father, found a home away from home in Camp Sherman. He stayed in Cabin #5 at Twin View Resort, then owned by Osika and her husband Nick.

Dunne, called America's finest chronicler of the Age of Celebrity, died last Wednesday, August 26, at the age of 83.

"A lot of people don't know about the contributions he made to the community." Osika said. "Dunne donated enough money to send two Black Butte School students to Washington, D.C. for their class trip one year. He also became a member and contributor to Friends of the Metolius.

"He came here in early September of 1978 and Nick suggested he check out the resorts down the street because he wanted to be full time and it was a busy time of year. Within five minutes he was back and said 'I want it.' So we rented to him. It was flattering for him to come back and want the room so quickly.

"He stayed for six months altogether, had Thanksgiving dinner with us. He came over to watch the national news and sometimes stayed for dinner. There were no phones or TV in the cabins."

Dunne's was a working vacation.

"He was always working at the typewriter, so I'd take him food and stop and ask him if he was okay," Osika recalled. "He'd invite me in. We talked about world affairs and he and Nick liked to talk about the news."

In a BBC film about Dunne, he is quoted as saying about Camp Sherman:

"I was like a whipped dog when I came here. But there was something about this place that had an incredible effect on me."

Dunne found relief and a creative wellspring.

"I started writing my first book here in that Cabin #5. And I found, in the loneliness, I found all the bull of Hollywood sort of ceased. The bull that I had filled myself with. I was also 51 years old at the time. It's a strange age to, all of a sudden, change your whole life, but that's where it happened. It happened right here, where we are. I went back to California and I sold every single thing I owned and reduced my entire life to one suitcase and one typewriter."

Dunne returned to Camp Sherman twice in the '90s.

"He came back for the BBC film about his life, about 1996, and stayed again in #5," Osika said. "Later, Vanity Fair asked him to write a story about the art that was coming to Oregon from Countess Stroganoff's private collection in St. Petersburg, Russia. Dunne was invited to do the story."

Dunne called and said, "Joyce, I'm going to come and see you."

"His friends had a private jet plane," Osika said. "We found out where he was going to land, and we picked him up. He looked like he was coming from Greenwich. He wore a scarf and a felt hat.

"We took him to Black Butte Ranch for lunch, took him to see the cabin. His friends went to their ranch in Bend. He bought something at the store, just for the heck of it. He met Kathy (White) and she brought out Kelsey to meet him. He said, 'I have a granddaughter your age. Her name is Hannah.' He was very receptive to people.

"It was the last time we saw Dominick."

Osika kept in touch with Dunne through the years.

"He was always very gracious," she said. "He always answered the phone when I called."