- Julia Thorne
Infobox Person
name = Julia Stimson Thorne
image_size =
caption =
birth_date =September 16 1944
birth_place =New York City ,New York ,USA
death_date =April 27 2006
death_place = Concord,Massachusetts ,USA
occupation =Writer
parents = Alice Smith Barry, Landon Ketchum Thorne, Jr.
spouse = John Kerry
(1970-1988)
Richard Charlesworth
(1997-2006)
children =Vanessa Kerry
Alexandra Kerry Julia Stimson Thorne (
September 16 ,1944 –April 27 ,2006 ) was awriter and the first wife of U.S. SenatorJohn Kerry .Early life
Thorne was born in
New York City . She was the daughter of Alice Smith Berry and Landon Ketchum Thorne, Jr. Her brothers are Landon Ketchum Thorne III of Beaufort, South Carolina and her twin brother David Hoadley Thorne of Brookline, Massachusetts. She spent much of her childhood inItaly , where her father had been appointed to a diplomatic post and was publisher of the "Rome Daily Herald"Fact|date=February 2008. She attended the Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Virginia. She took classes at the New York School of Interior Design and Radcliffe College.Thorne met Kerry in 1963 at her family's estate on Long Island. Kerry was a Yale classmate of Thorne's twin brother David. Thorne married Kerry on
May 23 ,1970 anddivorce d onJuly 25 ,1988 , after a six-year separation. They have two children together,Alexandra Kerry (born 1973) andVanessa Kerry (born 1976). During their marriage, Thorne began showing signs of depression and later wrote that she had at one time contemplated suicide. She overcame depression by 1990, and by all accounts the couple had an amicable relationship Fact|date=February 2008 .She married Richard J. Charlesworth in 1997 and they moved to
Bozeman, Montana . OnMay 7 ,1997 , two years after his remarriage, Kerry publicly announced that he had requested anannulment from theRoman Catholic Church of his marriage to Thorne.Kerry's 2004 Presidential Campaign
She endorsed Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, stating, "I think he is an immensely talented statesman, and I am 100 percent behind him".
She did, however, express concern about protecting her privacy, and stated that she hoped the couple's daughters would not become too involved in public life.
Books
She was the author of the books "You Are Not Alone: Words of Experience and Hope for the Journey Through Depression" (1993) (with Larry Rothstein) (ISBN 0-06-096977-6) and "A Change of Heart: Words of Experience and Hope for the Journey Through Divorce" (1996) (ISBN 0-06-095105-2).
Death
She was being treated for transitional-cell carcinoma, a form of cancer. Thorne died of
bladder cancer inConcord, Massachusetts .After Thorne's death following a long battle with cancer, Kerry released the following statement: :"Julia was the best mother two daughters could ask for. She always put our kids ahead of everything. She was completely committed to them and their future. Julia fought a hugely courageous fight against cancer and she passed away with the same grace with which she lived. Everyone who knew her will miss her beyond words".
Ancestry
Julia Thorne was a direct eleventh generation descendant of
John Bowne , a defiant activist in the struggle for religious freedom. William Thorne Sr., third signatory of theFlushing Remonstrance is also an ancestor.External links
* [http://www.wargs.com/political/thorne.html] Julia Stimson Thorne's Family Tree
* [http://thorn.pair.com/williamthorne1/d4614.htm#P4614] "Another Thorne Family Tree, with navigable links through the generations"
* [http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/07/02/senators_divorce_records_available/] Senator's divorce records available - An article on Boston Globe revealing that John Kerry and Julia Stimson Thorne's divorce papers are public
* [http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/04/28/julia_thorne_author_and_ex_wife_of_sen_kerry_dead_at_61/] Julia Thorne, author and ex-wife of Sen. Kerry, dead at 61 - Obituary from the Boston Globe
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