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Elizabeth Edwards: A woman to whom life was more than unfair

By MIKE BAKER and CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press
December 7, 2011
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Elizabeth Edwards lost her hair to cancer, her son to an accident, her husband to another woman.

No wonder she called one memoir "Resilience." And another "Saving Graces."
Edwards' death Tuesday at age 61 ended a struggle of extraordinary and multiple dimensions, any one of which might have consumed the more faint-hearted. She had lived side by side with high political ambition, personal betrayal, advancing disease and single-minded determination, and in her last years built a network of supporters who took life lessons from her adversities.
A public figure to the end, Edwards said goodbye to them the night before, online, after doctors had concluded they could do no more to save her. They figured she might have weeks at best; she lived hours.
John Edwards, the man she had advised as a strategist and supported as a spouse through a Senate campaign and two runs for the presidency, joined the family by her side. The couple had separated about a year ago, their marriage and their shared dreams of power shattered by his affair with a campaign videographer and his eventual admission that he had fathered his lover's child.

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David "Mudcat" Saunders, a political adviser and friend of the family, said Elizabeth Edwards' health rapidly deteriorated over the last few weeks. During that period, her estranged husband and their adult daughter, Cate, came to be with her, Saunders said.
Elizabeth Edwards became an advocate in her own right for health care reform and for the poor, two issues that had driven her husband, too. In that work, she lacked his clout but also his baggage.
"Our country has benefited from the voice she gave to the cause of building a society that lifts up all those left behind," President Barack Obama said.
Edwards was calculating and ambitious in her own right, as well. A shrewd attorney, Edwards contributed mightily to her husband's rise in politics and acted conspicuously to prevent his fall, his partner in hiding a secret that would come out anyway.
Two books published about the 2008 campaign characterized her as shrill toward her husband and sometimes verbally abusive to campaign staff, especially as his run faltered and tabloid reports of his affair piled up.
In a riveting moment from the Democratic presidential primary campaign, the couple stood together in apparent harmony and loving mutual support in March 2007 to tell the country that her breast cancer, diagnosed in 2004, had returned, spread and could not be cured.
His campaign would press on, she said that day, because "it's important that the American people have the opportunity to have a president like him."
John Edwards quit the race after poor showings in the primaries that made Obama the Democratic nominee, and he and his wife retreated almost entirely from public life.
While she pleaded for privacy after revelations of his adultery, she also wrote a memoir — her second — that discussed how the affair repulsed her. She went on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to talk about it, but only on the condition that Winfrey not mention the woman by name.
"Nothing will be quite as I want it, but sometimes we eat the toast that is burned on one side anyway, don't we?" she wrote in the memoir "Resilience."
Joe Trippi, a longtime Democratic campaign consultant whom Edwards recruited to work for her husband in 2008, recalled her driving spirit.
"She was out to live every single day," Trippi said. "She was going to live every single one of them with all the energy and grit that she could. That's a big lesson that her life could teach all of us."
Edwards connected easily with the public and her battle with breast cancer resonated. She shared the most intimate details, writing and speaking about the pain of losing her hair and her efforts to reassure her young children about her future.
It was not her first experience publicly dealing with very private matters. She wrote in her 2006 memoir about the death of their 16-year-old son, Wade, in 1996 and the grief that consumed her for two years afterward. She spent hours at home watching the Weather Channel on mute and broke down in tears on the floor of a grocery store after seeing Cherry Coke, Wade's favorite soda.
"If in a restaurant, I felt Wade about to overtake me, I would go to the restroom" and take out his picture, she wrote. "If someone, anyone was there, I showed them the picture and told them about my boy. I know it made some people feel awkward — I could see it in their faces — so I was always sure to say how much it meant that they had listened."
Her final days were in the company of her surviving children and their father.
"He loved Elizabeth," Saunders said of John Edwards. "You climb that many mountains and you go through the deepest valley that two people can possibly go through together — the loss of a child — and that makes for an incredible bond."
Saunders relayed a scene from Monday, told to him by John Edwards, when their youngest child, 10-year-old Jack, came in the room to tell his mother he loved her. She smiled at him and said, "I love you, too, sweetie," Saunders said.
Elizabeth Edwards was a Navy brat born in Jacksonville, Fla., and her experience attending school in Japan and living on military bases helped make her comfortable introducing herself to roomfuls of strangers.
She and John Edwards met in law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and married the weekend after they took the bar exam. He gave her an $11 wedding ring and borrowed money from his parents to pay for a brief honeymoon.
Even as John Edwards went on to make millions as one of the nation's most successful trial lawyers, they continued to celebrate anniversaries at Wendy's, where they had marked their first year of marriage.
Gary Pearce, who advised her husband's 1998 U.S. Senate campaign, remembered her as fragile and distant in the months before he officially joined the race as the couple grappled with the loss of their son.
But she became involved and outspoken about her husband's career once he bid for office.
"It was clear from the beginning that she was a full political partner with a lot of influence on him," Pearce said. "She was involved on a daily basis. She was in all the strategy sessions."
With the help of fertility treatments, Edwards gave birth to two more children, Emma Claire, now 12; and Jack. They joined Cate, nearly 20 years older than her new siblings. Edwards is also survived by a brother, Jay Anania, and sister, Nancy Anania.
Before her initial diagnosis with cancer, Edwards began writing a letter to her children with advice they could use after she died — such as how to choose a church or a spouse. The message became more poignant in her final years, brought home when Jack once asked who would be the grandmother to his children.
"We are not in denial," Edwards wrote in an updated version of her first memoir published in 2007. "I will die much sooner than I want to."

Biography (This section is also on Wikipedia)
Elizabeth Anania Edwards (born Mary Elizabeth Anania) (July 3, 1949 – December 7, 2010[2]) was an attorney and a best-selling author. At the time of her death, she was separated from her husband John Edwards, the former U.S. Senator from North Carolina who was the 2004 United States Democratic vice-presidential nominee.

Family and early life

Elizabeth Anania, the daughter of Elizabeth and Vincent (1920–2008) Anania, grew up in a military family, moving many times and never having a hometown, as her father, a United States Navy pilot, was transfered from military base to military base during her childhood and adolescence. For part of her childhood, she lived in Japan, where her father was stationed. She relates in her book Resilience that one of the hardest of the many relocations that she went through was having to move during her senior year of high school.[citation needed] She graduated from the Francis C. Hammond High School in Alexandria, Virginia, then attended Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia. She transferred to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), where she received her Bachelor's degree. After three years of postgraduate studies in English, she entered UNC's School of Law and earned a Juris Doctor. She met John Edwards when they were both law students. They married on July 30, 1977.[3][4]
Elizabeth was the mother of four children with her husband John: Wade (1979–96), Catharine (b. 1982), Emma Claire (b. 1998), and Jack (2000). Wade was killed in April 1996 when he lost control of his Jeep while driving from his home in Raleigh to the family's beach house near Wilmington.[5] Three weeks before his death, Wade Edwards was honored by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton at the White House as one of ten finalists in an essay contest sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Voice of America. Wade, accompanied by his parents and his sister, met North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms. After Wade died, Helms entered his essay and his obituary into the Congressional Record.[6]
Following Wade's death, Elizabeth and John had more children: Emma Claire was born when Elizabeth was 48, and Jack was born when she was 50. She was pregnant with Emma Claire during her husband's 1998 Senate race. Emma Claire and Jack were born in Chapel Hill, where the family now resides. After John's January 21, 2010 public admission that he fathered a child with another woman, Elizabeth legally separated from him, intending to file for divorce after North Carolina's mandatory one-year separation.[7][8][9][10]

Career

Elizabeth began her career as a law clerk for a federal judge, then moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1978 to become an associate at the law firm of Harwell Barr Martin & Sloan. In 1981, she and her husband moved their family to Raleigh, where she worked in the Office of the Attorney General, and at the law firm Merriman, Nicholls, and Crampton. She used her maiden name professionally until 1996,[11] when she retired from legal practice upon the death of her son and changed her name to Elizabeth Edwards. Much of her time since leaving legal practice was devoted to the administration of the Wade Edwards Foundation.[12] She taught legal writing as an adjunct instructor at the University of North Carolina School of Law and worked as a substitute teacher in the Wake County Public Schools. In August 2009, she opened a furniture store in Chapel Hill.[13]

Political activity

During much of 2004, Edwards joined her husband and United States Democratic Presidential nominee Senator John Kerry on the nationwide campaign trail. She took a similar role in her husband's 2008 presidential bid and was considered one of his closest advisers.
Edwards disagreed with her husband on the topic of same-sex marriage. She became a vocal advocate in 2007 when she stated: "I don't know why someone else’s marriage has anything to do with me. I'm completely comfortable with gay marriage."[14]
On June 10, 2008, it was revealed that Edwards would be advising her husband's former rival, and eventual Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, on healthcare issues.[15] Her husband also endorsed Obama during the later stages of the 2008 primary season.
Edwards became a senior fellow at the American Progress Action Fund and testified to Congress about health care reform on their behalf.[16]

Illness and death

On November 3, 2004, the day Kerry conceded defeat in the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election, Elizabeth Edwards was diagnosed with breast cancer. She later revealed that she discovered a lump in her breast while on a campaign stop in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a few weeks earlier, in the midst of the campaign. Edwards became an activist for women's health and cancer patients, and underwent oncology treatments. In a November 2006 comment on the Daily Kos website, Edwards stated that on her last visit, her oncologist said that cancer was not one of the things going on in her life.[17]
In September 2006, Edwards released a book, Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers,[18] focusing on the death of her son and her illness. In May 2009, Edwards released a second book, Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities,[19] further detailing her illness, the 1996 death of her son Wade, the earlier death of her father, the effect of these events on her marriage to John Edwards, his infidelity, and the general state of health care in America.[20][21]
At a March 22, 2007 press conference,[22] John and Elizabeth Edwards announced that her cancer had returned, and that his campaign for the Presidency would continue as before. The announcement included the information that she was asymptomatic, and therefore that she expected to be an active part of the campaign.[23] Her doctor, Dr. Lisa Carey of the University of North Carolina's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, described the diagnosis as stage IV (metastatic) breast cancer with a spot in her rib and possibly her lung. In a March 25 interview on 60 Minutes, Edwards said that there was also a spot in her hip found on her bone scan.[24] The Edwardses and Dr. Carey stressed that the cancer was not curable, but was treatable.[22][25] In early April 2007, Edwards was informed that her cancer might be treatable with anti-estrogen drugs. "I consider that a good sign. It means there are more medications to which I can expect to be responsive," she told the Associated Press during a campaign stop with her husband in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.[26]
On December 6, 2010, Edwards' family announced that she would stop cancer treatment after her doctors advised her that further treatment would be unproductive, the cancer having metastasized to her liver. She had been advised she had several weeks to live. Her family members, including her estranged husband John, were with her.
Edwards died of metastatic breast cancer on Tuesday, December 7, 2010, at home in Chapel Hill, surrounded by friends and family.[27]

References

  1. ^ "Elizabeth Edwards says she's separated from John". USA Today. 2010-01-27. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/01/elizabeth-edwards-says-shes-separated-from-john/1. Retrieved 2010-05-01. 
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ Four trials, by John Edwards, John Auchard. Google Books
  4. ^ In a New Book, Elizabeth Edwards Reveals Her Pain Over the Affair—and That Her Cancer Has Spread People.
  5. ^ "Edwards' bittersweet history: Kerry's choice comes with a rags-to-riches story that's marked by tragedy". Chicago Tribune. 2004-07-07. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/elections/chi-0407070448jul07,1,2453568.story?coll=chi-news-hed. Retrieved 2007-01-30. [dead link]
  6. ^ "LUCIUS WADE EDWARDS JULY 18, 1979 – APRIL 4, 1996". http://www.wade.org/senator.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-21. 
  7. ^ Myers, Lisa; Austin, Michael (January 21, 2010). "Edwards admits fathering child with mistress". NBC News. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/34963767/ns/today-today_people/. Retrieved 2010-01-21. 
  8. ^ Cowan, Richard; Holland, Steve (January 27, 2010). "Politician John Edwards and wife separate". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60Q65P20100127. Retrieved 2010-07-04. 
  9. ^ "Elizabeth Edwards tells her sister: 'I've had it.'". USA Today. 2010-01-27. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2010/01/elizabeth-edwards-tells-her-sister-ive-had-it-/1. Retrieved 2010-05-01. 
  10. ^ "Edwards Admits Fathering Love Child, Reportedly Separates From Wife". Fox News. 2010-01-21. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/21/report-john-edwards-set-admit-paternity-love-child/. 
  11. ^ Ms. Magazine | Elizabeth Edwards, The Strategist
  12. ^ Wade Edwards Foundation website
  13. ^ "Edwards opens furniture store: Elizabeth Edwards is now a business owner". Chapel Hill, NC: abc11.com. August 23, 2009. http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=6978049. Retrieved 7 December 2010. 
  14. ^ Elizabeth Edwards strays on gay marriage – John Edwards News – MSNBC.com
  15. ^ TPM Election Central | Talking Points Memo | Obama Says He's Partnering With Elizabeth Edwards On Health Care
  16. ^ "On the Hill, Elizabeth Edwards Calls Attention to Medical Bankruptcies". The Washington Post. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/health-care-reform/2009/07/on_the_hill_elizabeth_edwards.html. Retrieved 2010-05-01. 
  17. ^ "Edwards posting". Daily Kos blog. November 20, 2006. http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2006/11/20/144410/37/59#c59. 
  18. ^ Edwards,Elizabeth (September 2006). Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers. Broadway. ISBN 0767925378. 
  19. ^ Edwards, Elizabeth (2009). Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities. Crown. ISBN 978-0767931366. 
  20. ^ Martelle, Scott (2009-05-08). "'Resilience' by Elizabeth Edwards". The Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/features/books/la-et-book8-2009may08,0,5029044.story. 
  21. ^ Hitchens, Christopher (September 2009). "The Pain of Elizabeth Edwards". The Atlantic. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200909/elizabeth-edwards. Retrieved 7 December 2010. 
  22. ^ a b "Transcript of Former Sen. Edwards News Conference on Wife's Health". Washington Post. 2007-03-22. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/22/AR2007032201422.html. Retrieved 2007-03-27. 
  23. ^ Pickler, Nedra (2007-03-22). "Edwards presses on with 2008 campaign". Yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 2007-03-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20070328171649/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070322/ap_on_el_pr/edwards2008. Retrieved 2007-03-22. 
  24. ^ Couric, Katie (2007-03-25). "Exclusive:John and Elizabeth Edwards, Edwards Open About Cancer, Unconditional About Couple's Decision On Presidential Run". 60 Minutes (CBS). http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/24/60minutes/main2605038.shtml. Retrieved 2007-03-28. 
  25. ^ Jill Lawrence and, Rita Rubin (2007-03-22). "For Elizabeth Edwards, a public battle for her life". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-22-edwards-cover_N.htm. Retrieved 2007-03-23. 
  26. ^ "Elizabeth Edwards Gets a 'Good Sign'". April 4, 2007. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20033635,00.html. 
  27. ^ "Elizabeth Edwards dies". December 7, 2010. http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5573188/.