July 28th, 2008

At one time I had hoped to get the okay to write a biography about Mary Jo Kopechne. The story of her life and untimely death fascinated me and I wanted to write about all the wonderful things she managed to do in her short time on earth. It seems that most only know about her accident with Senator Ted Kenedy, but she was much more than that. I’ve included a bit of the sample chapter in my notes today. Let me know if it catches your interest. If the response if favorable I might be able to convince my publisher to give me another shot at the manuscript. “I guess those girls just aren’t going to talk. It would ease the heartache so much if they would give some answers.”
Mrs. Joseph Kopechne – September 26, 1969. A determined diver dressed in full scuba gear carefully lifted a bent, stiff body with gritted teeth and clawed hands out of a murky pond. A company of police officers, fireman and medical examiners all wearing doleful expressions watched as the lifeless figure was placed on a white tarp stretched out on the ground. Few spoke as a cursory examination of the twenty-eight year-old woman laying before them begun. The process took only ten minutes.
It was 9:30 a.m. on July 19, 1969, and most of the residents at Chappaquiddick Island had no idea their tiny community had played host to a tragedy. News that a car had plummeted off Dike Bridge claiming a life in the process had not reached them yet. From the standpoint of Massachusetts law enforcement this meant there would be no curious crowds to control or usher away from the wreckage. They were free to investigate the scene without distraction. Doctor Donald Mills, Associate County Medical Examiner, squeezed his fat hand into a pair of surgical gloves and stared down at the woman’s face. “This is Mary Jo Kopechne, gentlemen,” he announced in a business like manner. “Looks like she fought hard to stay alive,” he added. In Doctor Millss initial inspection of the body he noted that Mary Jo was wearing a blouse, a bra and slacks, but no panties. “Maybe she forgot them,” he offered to no one in particular. With mortician Eugene Frieh and his assistant, David Guay, looking on, Doctor Mills loosened the front of Mary Jo’s blouse and pressed his stethoscope over her chest and abdomen. The physician inspected the body for ten minutes then turned to the examiners on either side of him and confessed, “This is the most drowned person I’ve ever seen &any light pressure on the chest wall&water would simply pour out of the nose and mouth.” The mortician nodded, “We need to be sure, though,” he insisted. Doctor Mills stood up, his hand on his chin. He squinted into the sunlight as he pondered the comment. At that moment a black Oldsmobile arrived at the scene and stopped next to an awaiting ambulance. Senator Ted Kennedy, dressed in a neatly pressed pair of trousers and a white shirt, emerged from the back of the vehicle. His attorneys climbed out after him, flanking him on either side.