Does Divorce Cause People to Disappear?

Jacob Sullum on [link=http://www.reason.com/hitandrun/006285.shtml#006285]Hit and Run[/link]:

Speaking of the films, I did not notice any mention in Kerry's biography of his first wife; the film made it seem as if he had given birth to his daughters all by himself. I guess the Democrats would like the public to assume Alexandra and Vanessa's mother is dead rather than divorced. Very classy.

I did some research once on a deceased former premier of New Brunswick who had been married three times. I found it very difficult to figure out from the archives who the wives were, the years of the marriages, or even which kids resulted from which marriage.

It must be common at funerals now that the "last" wife does what she can to expunge previous wives from history, the way the Commies used to disappear Politburo members from the group photo.

Kingsley Amis' memoirs present an interesting twist. At one point he left good old wife No. 1 for younger wife No. 2, a novelist and literary lion like him, etc. By the time of the memoirs, however, he was back with No. 1, mother of his children again. It is No. 2 who almost disappears, despite a few words about a romantic affair.

A colleague of mine in the States commented once that graduations were getting messy for many graduating students. Both divorced parents would show up, each with a new spouse. Don't go for dinne with them; go for dinner with us. Can't we have a photo without them?

Sat Jul 31, 2004 4:02 pm MST by robertll | Email Article |

Return to Main Page

Does Divorce Cause People to Disappear?