Marilyn Van Derbur

[applecruncher]

I didn’t want to hijack the spanking thread, but I want to mention something.

There is a lovely woman named Marilyn Van Derbur who was Miss America 1958. I found out about her by accident when skimming a People magazine. She suffered unspeakable abuse by her father from age 5 to age 18, and she wrote a book “Miss America by Day”. I read her book (not easy……. It made me sick and angry that her father got away with what he did and was never held accountable). Anyway, I wrote to Marilyn a few years ago, and she responded.

You can Google her name and read some of her story.

 

[hollydolly]

How very kind of you to have written to her AC..her story must have moved you very much.

With the greatest respect to you and abused children and adults everywhere ...there are many, many books out there written by those of us who suffered horrendous childhoods, and I have tried to read one or 2 , and I just cannot..I can't get past the first beating..or the lead up to it..it's all just far too real for me and I feel the tension building up in my chest, reliving my own past through these heartbreaking stories fee;ing like it was all happening all over again ..and sobbing like a child.. I just cannot bear to read them it's far too painful!!

 

[applecruncher]

I fully understand Holly. I was not really physically abused (although 2 of my siblings were), but I did endure emotional, verbal abuse and also some neglect and hardship which could have been avoided.

On the other hand, Marilyn’s abuse was sexual (which is mainly why I didn't mention her in the other thread). Her father was a monster ……..wealthy, upstanding pillar of the community (yeah, riiiiiight).