Julia Thorne

News Obituary Article

Julia Thorne, 61, author, Kerry's ex-wife

Julia Thorne, the former wife of U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who turned her experience with depression into a best-selling book, has died of cancer. She was 61.

She died Thursday at a friend's home in Concord, the senator's office said.

Ms. Thorne, who struggled with depression for much of the 1980s, also founded a nonprofit education foundation called The Depression Initiative.

In 1993, she wrote "You Are Not Alone: Words of Experience and Hope for the Journey through Depression," with Larry Rothstein. A second book, "A Change of Heart: Words of Experience and Hope for the Journey through Divorce," was published in 1996.

"She was a phenomenal mother," daughter Vanessa Kerry told The Boston Globe. "And she affected many others, too. So many people have come up to me over the years, even on the campaign trail, to say how much of a difference her books made for them."

Sen. Kerry called Ms. Thorne "a great friend to a lot of people."

"She was the best mom two daughters could want," he said. "She was completely committed to the kids and their future."

She met Sen. Kerry in 1963 at her family's estate on Long Island when Sen. Kerry, a Yale classmate of Ms. Thorne's twin brother, came for a visit. He was clearly smitten, she recalled in an interview with the Globe.

"He just kind of stood there and looked," she said. They married in 1970.

The couple had two daughters, Vanessa and Alexandra. They divorced in 1988 but remained friendly.

She married Richard J. Charlesworth in 1997 and they moved to Bozeman, Mont.

© 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution