Free Republic

Julia Thorne, an author, activist, and former wife of US Senator John F. Kerry, died yesterday in Concord. She was 61. The cause of death was transitional-cell carcinoma, a form of cancer, according to her daughter Vanessa Kerry. In a telephone interview, John Kerry called Ms. Thorne "a great friend to a lot of people" and spoke with emotion of her accomplishments as a parent. "She was the best mom two daughters could want," he said. "She was completely committed to the kids and their future." Her daughter echoed that view. "She was a phenomenal mother," said Vanessa Kerry, of...

GOING THE DISTANCE Following in her father's footsteps, Vanessa Kerry is training to run in the Boston Marathon. John Kerry's youngest daughter is studying in London on a Fulbright scholarship, but told friends in a recent e-mail that she's training for the April race. (Her father has said he competed in the late 1970s.) In the e-mail, Kerry said she's running as part of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's marathon team and invited friends to visit the Dana-Farber website and make a donation supporting cancer research. (Among those who've responded are famous friends: singer Carole King and Al Gore's middle daughter,...

"This week's issue of Time magazine (April, 2004) says Sen. John Kerry 'sought an annulment of his 18-year first marriage before marrying again.' News reports indicate, however, that Kerry didn't seek an annulment until after he married Teresa Heinz in a civil ceremony in 1995. Today's New York Times says Kerry 'sought an annulment from the church when he was divorced from his first wife.' Notice that neither Time nor the New York Times says that an annulment was granted. They say it was 'sought.'

Why have we not heard anything about Sen. John Kerry’s former wife, the mother of his daughters? What can you tell us about her? When divorced, remarried, etc.? - P.S., Lebanon You probably haven’t heard anything about her because she’s an exceedingly private person. Kerry married the former Julia Thorne, a Philadelphia heiress, in 1970 in Bay Shore, N.Y. They honeymooned in Jamaica. As you note, they had two daughters, Alexandra in 1973 and Vanessa in 1976. The couple separated in 1982 at a time when Thorne was battling a deep depression and contemplating suicide. "After 14 years as a...

1) KERRY EX-WIFE ASSAILS ANNULMENT PROCESS Published on April 10, 1997 Author(s): Frank Phillips, Globe Staff Kerry's former wife, Julia Thorne, says she received what she considers a coldly-worded letter in November from a church official notifying her that the senator was seeking an annulment of their 12-year marriage, which ended in

A Washington Times article was just pulled because the poster violated the copyright rules for our website. I was in the process of typing a response to the article and it was pulled prior to my posting. I went to the Times website and could not find it. There was something about his marriages that would be of interest to a number of Freepers, i.e., the article said he married Theresa Heinz BEFORE his first marriage was annulled. I think that may be new information. Is there a way to get this article, appropriately excerpted, back on the site.

...Both the veep and his wife, Lynne, reacted angrily to John Kerry's having pointedly noted in Wednesday's debate that their daughter Mary — who works for the campaign but keeps a low profile — is gay. The suspicion is that Kerry meant to damage the Republican ticket in the eyes of any voters who have a problem with Mary Cheney's sexuality — that is, in the eyes of people that Kerry considers to be bigots. Recall that Kerry's running-mate, John Edwards, also gratuitously brought up the subject.... Yesterday, Mrs. Cheney reacted furiously to Kerry's tactic, calling it "a cheap and...

IT HAS been one of the best-kept secrets of the presidential election campaign. Julia Thorne, the first wife of John Kerry, the Democrat candidate, has been suffering from cancer.After months of treatment out of the public eye, she has now been declared cancer-free and has returned to her home in Montana. Thorne is considering writing a book about her experience of illness, but not until after the November election. “She is somebody who has written books before and has a lot to share with people,” a family friend said. If the past is a guide, she may include some acerbic...

Sources tell the National Enquirer that in 1980--two years before Kerry and first wife Julia Thorne announced their separation--John Kerry began an affair that lasted past the marriage breakup. Kerry and Ms. Thorne divorced in 1988. The woman in question was dating a prominent Boston dermatologist in 1980, but that relationship ended when she started seeing John Kerry romantically. An insider close to the woman tells the Enquirer, 'There is a reason John Kerry has fought tooth and nail to keep the records of his 1988 divorce sealed. If those divorce records were ever released, I think the public would...

It is alledged that Kerry had an aldulterous relationship an unnamed woman that began before he and his first wife split.The National Enquirer claims in its latest issue that Kerry had a 'passionate affair' with an unnamed woman.'She was in love with John and he broke her heart,' a source told the weekly tabloid.The Enquirer claims that Kerry had the adulterous relationship in 1980-two years before he and Julia Thorne announced their seperation.(they did not officially divorce until 1988.)

Kerry has a different language, a different connection to ritual, and a different relationship to Jesus than that of Bush. John Kerry was never a Prodigal Son. His faith journey contains no leave-taking and triumphant return, no revival, no conversion on the road to Damascus. Unlike President Bush--a Protestant who experienced a profound conversion at age 40 under the Rev. Billy Graham's tutelage--Kerry has been a steady, churchgoing Catholic literally since the day he was born. For Americans who have grown accustomed in the last four years to a certain kind of spiritual biography, Kerry's will seem starkly different. He...

Caption this vintage Kerry pic.

Friends say the union of John Kerry [related, bio] and Julia Thorne was a rousing love affair when they met at Yale - he a dashing 19-year-old, she a bikini-clad babe and twin sister to Kerry's best friend. But for a political marriage, it was a dud and it ended badly. It couldn't have happened at a worse time for the budding politician's career, the summer of 1982, just as Kerry emerged as a serious candidate for Massachusetts lieutenant governor. Kerry later called the divorce a ``super-painful process'' and laughs off his bachelor days as the loneliest time of his...

John Kerry is a man full of contradiction.In 1995, already divorced from his first wife Julia Thorne, John Kerry pressed for an annulment.He didn't bother to tell Ms. Thorne. The church simply informed her by way of a letter that this was the case. Ms. Thorne had been severely depressed and near suicide when Kerry walked out on her, and in pressing for an annulment he cast his daughters into the bizarre state of illigimacy. (one of them was still a teenager at the time) Compare that with the Jack Ryan Illinois Senate case where both parents were arguing to...

CAMBRIDGE -- U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II made one of his few public appearances in Massachusetts yesterday since his annulment dispute became public, but he continued to insist it was a private matter. "I'm not going to start commenting on all of the various issues that have been brought up," a subdued Rep. Kennedy said after recognizing the winners of local Small Business Administration awards. "I just feel that these are personal family matters and I think that I will continue to try to treat them as such," he said. In a book to be published next month, the...

The Boston Globe, October 18, 1990 The Washington Post Style section recently anointed him the capital's 9th most eligible bachelor, offering this thumbnail sketch: "Heartthrob of the Left. Known for unabashed ego and killer office hours; dates start at midnight. A tad forgetful - his divorce became final four years after his separation, a fact that reportedly came as a surprise to some of his frequent companions." Gossip columns have linked Kerry to actresses Morgan Fairchild and Cornelia Guest, as well as Patti Davis, the daughter of President Reagan. Kerry dismisses the gossip, saying he would "wish being father to...

<p>Some Democrats in Illinois may have been tickled pink at the prospect of throwing the U.S. Senate race into utter confusion two weeks ago, but those same Democrats have now likely opened up vulnerability at the top of the ticket. And with what is already publicly known about the tortured marriage between Sen. John Kerry and his first wife Julia Stimson Thorne, there is reason to believe that where there's smoke, there's fire.</p>

BOSTON - In 1995, already divorced from his first wife Julia Thorne, John Kerry pressed for an annulment. He didn't bother to tell Ms. Thorne. The church simply informed her by way of a letter that this was the case. Ms. Thorne had been severely depressed and near suicide when Kerry walked out on her, and in pressing for an annulment he cast his daughters into the bizarre state of illegitimacy. One of them was still a teen at the time. Compare that to the Jack Ryan case where - BOTH - parents were arguing to keep the records sealed...

BOSTON -- When Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry dismissed calls that he make his divorce records public, he apparently didn't know many of them already are. In 1988 Kerry and his first wife, Julia Thorne, were granted a "no-fault" divorce after 18 years of marriage. They cited the generic grounds of "irretrievable breakdown of the marriage," according to divorce records. The only portion of the records that are sealed involve the couple's financial information, including salary, assets and debts, which are impounded in all divorce cases, Assistant Norfolk Probate Registrar John Jenney said. Kerry has denounced inquiries about whether his...

The same media establishment that was so eager to unearth the divorce files of GOP Senate nominee Jack Ryan and destroy his candidacy is still reluctant to give Sen. John Kerry the same treatment. Thank heaven for the Illinois Leader. As we noted last week, Leader Media Inc. President Dan Proft announced he would sue to open the Democrat presidential candidate's records to the public. "Tuesday, the national media began bombarding IllinoisLeader.com, questioning the fledgling operation's intention to take on a fight with national political implications," the conservative Web site reported. "The Chicago Tribune and a Los Angeles Family...