Rival books re-ignite war of words over Terri Schiavo
Jacqui Goddard
Telegraph.co.uk
___________
Miami, Florida (US):
For 15 years they argued through the media, courts, state legislatures and Congress over the fate of Terri Schiavo. Now the two sides in America's most divisive end-of-life case are taking their feud to the nation's bookshelves.
In one corner are Mrs Schiavo's parents and her brother and sister, who have penned a book, A Life That Matters, recounting their failed legal struggle to keep the brain-damaged woman alive against the wishes of her husband and presenting accounts of his alleged violent temper.Describing themselves as the people who loved and knew her best, they say that their narrative "separates lies from truth, myth from facts" and will correct misconceptions of a story that became "buried under the avalanche of politics and power".
In the other corner is 42-year-old Michael Schiavo, the dead woman's husband, who successfully fought to have her feeding tube withdrawn, resulting in 41-year-old Mrs Schiavo's death in a Florida hospice a year ago next week.
His protracted battle with his in-laws caused a constitutional crisis as politicians - including President George W Bush and his brother Jeb, the governor of Florida - attempted to overrule courts that had ruled in his favour."A religious zealot offered $250,000 [£142,000] to anyone who would kill me.
My two babies were threatened with death," Mr Schiavo - who remarried two months ago and has two children by his new wife - says in his book Terri: The Truth.
Mar 19, 2006
Jacqui Goddard
Telegraph.co.uk
___________
Miami, Florida (US):
For 15 years they argued through the media, courts, state legislatures and Congress over the fate of Terri Schiavo. Now the two sides in America's most divisive end-of-life case are taking their feud to the nation's bookshelves.
In one corner are Mrs Schiavo's parents and her brother and sister, who have penned a book, A Life That Matters, recounting their failed legal struggle to keep the brain-damaged woman alive against the wishes of her husband and presenting accounts of his alleged violent temper.Describing themselves as the people who loved and knew her best, they say that their narrative "separates lies from truth, myth from facts" and will correct misconceptions of a story that became "buried under the avalanche of politics and power".
In the other corner is 42-year-old Michael Schiavo, the dead woman's husband, who successfully fought to have her feeding tube withdrawn, resulting in 41-year-old Mrs Schiavo's death in a Florida hospice a year ago next week.
His protracted battle with his in-laws caused a constitutional crisis as politicians - including President George W Bush and his brother Jeb, the governor of Florida - attempted to overrule courts that had ruled in his favour."A religious zealot offered $250,000 [£142,000] to anyone who would kill me.
My two babies were threatened with death," Mr Schiavo - who remarried two months ago and has two children by his new wife - says in his book Terri: The Truth.
Mar 19, 2006
