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Julia Stimson Thorne
Born	16 September 1944 New York City, New York, USA
Died	27 April 2006 Concord, Massachusetts, USA
Occupation	Writer
Spouse	John Kerry (divorced)
Parents	Edward Henry Thorne
Children	Vanessa Kerry Alexandra Kerry

Julia Stimson Thorne (16 September 1944 – 27 April 2006) was a writer and the first wife of U.S. Senator John Kerry.

Contents 1 Early Life 2 Books 3 Marriage to Kerry 4 Re-Marriage 5 Death 6 Following Death 7 Ancestry 8 External links

Thorne was born in New York City, and spent part of her formative years in Italy, where her father was a diplomat and the publisher of the Rome Daily Herald. After her marriage to Kerry ended in divorce, she remarried and lived in Bozeman, Montana.

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).

Thorne married Kerry on May 23, 1970 and divorced on July 25, 1988, after a six-year separation. They have two children together, Alexandra Kerry (born 1973) and Vanessa Kerry (born 1976). When the couple met, Thorne was Kerry's best friend's sister. 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. [1]

On May 7, 1997, two years after his remarriage, Kerry publicly announced that he had requested an annulment from the Roman Catholic Church of his marriage to Thorne.

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.

Thorne died of bladder cancer in Concord, 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."

Julia Thorne was a direct eleventh generation descendant of John Bowne, defiant activist in the struggle for religious freedom, and William Thorne, Sr., third signatory of the Flushing Remonstrance.

• [2] Julia Stimson Thorne's Family Tree
  • [3] Another Thorne Family Tree, with navigable links through the generations
• [4] Senator's divorce records available - An article on Boston Globe revealing that John Kerry and Julia Stimson Thorne's divorce papers are public
• [5] Julia Thorne, author and ex-wife of Sen. Kerry, dead at 61 - Obituary from the Boston Globe