Product Description

The former U.S. senator describes how, in 1994, his daughter was found dead in a parking lot after passing out drunk and freezing to death, offering an intensely personal account of one woman's addictions and a family's struggle to help her while not ruining themselves in the process. Reprint. NYT. "

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #156032 in Books
• Published on: 1997-08-01
• Format: Bargain Price
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Amazon.com Review
George McGovern, the 1972 Democratic nominee for President, offers a tragic family drama while confronting the choices of his own life in this story of a daughter's fatal fight with alcoholism. Told in direct prose, the tale is a harrowing one. Teresa Jane McGovern, the middle child of five, began drinking at age 13, was hospitalized for depression after her arrest for smoking pot at age 19, cleaned up for a while in her 30s, but then spiraled out of control until she froze to death in a parking lot after a drinking binge. Her father openly examines his role and the causes of his daughter's demise.

From Publishers Weekly
The former Democratic senator from South Dakota here presents a memorial service for his alcoholic daughter, Terry, who froze to death on the streets of Madison, Wisc., one pre-Christmas night in 1994. Other such books have been more felicitously written but few as heart-wrenchingly, as we hear about Terry's troubled life from her family (three sisters and a brother who is a recovering alcoholic), friends, doctors and police. The onetime presidential candidate's daughter began drinking at 13; at 15 she had an abortion, arranged by her father although the procedure was then illegal. Terry, who continued drinking, was arrested for possessing pot in 1968, a charge carrying a mandatory five-year sentence she beat (thanks to her father's lawyers) on a technicality involving the search warrant. She left college to spend more than four years in daily psychoanalysis following six months in a locked psychiatric ward. Although as one doctor noted, Terry was "an awfully tough case," in 1980, when she was 31, her life seemed salvageable; at that time she embarked on what proved to be eight years of sobriety, during which she and her lover had two daughters. But her drinking, despite countless treatment programs, at private facilities and AA, would ultimately kill her. Her father, who discusses the high incidence of alcoholism among his forbears and has now dedicated himself to the cause, considers Terry's a possible genetic condition. His anguish is potent. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA?Terry McGovern was found frozen to death in a snow bank in Madison, WI, just before Christmas in 1994. She died not because she was unloved or unsupported, but because she was unable to stop drinking. The author, a former senator and one-time candidate for president, wonders whether he could have loved his middle child more or shown greater support during her 20- year battle with the bottle. He searches through the journals she kept for most of her adult life; speaks with friends, counselors, and other alcoholics; consults with members of his family; and tries to understand where they all went wrong. The result is a heartrending, painful account of the day-to-day, year-to-year struggle Terry faced in dealing with her "demon," and the conclusion that this disease is unremittingly unyielding to logic or love. The book reveals much about both alcoholism and the family dynamics so often associated with the time and energy put into "curing" the alcoholic. So many people are directly and indirectly affected by the disease that any open discussion of its cause and treatment is valuable, and the story of its impact on this high-profile and basically good family shows the democratic nature of its incidence.?Susan H. Woodcock, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Shockingly familiar grounds
I read this book when it first came out. At the time I was suffering from depression and alcoholism. I wept as I read the pages because I knew that I too could end up like Terry. I felt for Terry and her family all through out the book. I also realized how my family must have felt and how they might feel if I too fell victim to myself and alcohol. You have to give credit to the courageouls George McGovern to share his families sacred secrets and tradgedy. This is a must have book for anyone who is an alcoholic, heavy drinker or depressed or anyone who knows or lives with an alcoholic or heavy drinker.

A harrowing and heartrending tale of alcoholism.
Former South Dakota senator, and one time Presidential hopeful, George McGovern relates the sad story of his daughter Terry, who's alcoholism finally killed her when she passed out in a snowfilled alley outside of a bar one cold December night. With an objective honest and insight into both his daughter and the nature of addiction, McGovern tells how him middle daughter grew up and became mired in an inescapable quicksand of addiction. Having recently lost my wife to the ravages of this disease (ironically this book was one of hers and one she quite enjoyed reading) I can relate to McGovern's feelings of anger, frustration, and helpless regret over how the disease warped both his daughter's spirit and mind. This book is an essential for anyone who has ever had to battle, or has a loved who battles, this wretched, life eating disease. Highest recommendation.

very unselfish account of a personal tragedy
I heard George McGovern talking about this book on NPR when it first came out, but it wasn't till recently that i had a chance to read it. I thoroughly enjoyed it, because it gave me some insight on addiction that i did not have before. Sen. McGovern's intentions in writing this book are laudable, and i have a lot of respect for him. I can only imagine how painful it must have been to research the material (Terry's journals, social workers' reports, etc), and to actually write the book and go through those memories. He is sincere and acknowledges his responsibility as a father, and does not try to place blame on alcohol, society, or many of the other targets of anti-abuse groups. Terry might as well have been born with CF, because she suffered from (in her case) an incurable disease. If you want to understand the incredible power of addiction, this book is a great place to start.