FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC:

A slight problem with Kerry profile (Alex Beam, 12/3/2002, Boston Globe)

There was one curious gap in Joe Klein's earnest and worshipful profile of Senator John Kerry that appeared in last week's New Yorker. Although Klein published characterizations of Kerry's first wife, Julia Thorne, as a depressed, dysfunctional spouse and an unreliable mother, he never bothered to call her.

The drive-by journalistic sliming is a source of much concern in Kerry's family, which is experiencing considerable emotional pressure as he prepares
to run for president. Kerry's two daughters, for whom Thorne was the primary caregiver for many years, have written a letter of protest to The New Yorker.

Kerry himself wrote an anguished letter to the magazine, contesting two of Klein's contentions about his first marriage. Kerry challenges the quoted assertion of his ''friend,'' former Senator Tim Wirth, that Thorne ''was not reliable'' as a mother during Kerry's early years in the Senate. Kerry also argues that, contrary to what is claimed in the article (''Julia's mental condition was precarious''), Thorne's battle with depression did not cause their breakup. By all accounts, including Kerry's, he and his first wife grew apart during the course of their 12-year marriage. It happens.

Here's the real question: why did he leave his daughters with an unstable woman? Posted by Orrin Judd at December 4, 2002 1:22 PM