Terry

by George S. McGovern

The former United States Senator tells the story of his daughter Terry, her twin curses of alcoholism and depression, and the resulting connections with his political life, her children, and philosophies of life. It was just before Christmas 1994 that Senator George McGovern received the terrible news that his forty-five-year-old daughter, Terry, had been found dead in a parking lot near her Madison, Wisconsin, home. In an alcoholic stupor, Terry had stumbled out of a bar and into a snowbank, where she fell asleep and froze to death. In this extraordinary remembrance, Senator McGovern attempts to come to grips with the circumstances of his child's demise as well as her troubled life. Alcohol and depression were always twin curses for Terry. Though she maintained a facade of well-being, especially while working on her famous father's political campaigns, she was desperately trying to conquer her addictions. For long stretches of her adult life, despite her efforts to stay sober, she was