By now, you may have read that John Edwards, after vehemently denying tabloid reports of an affair, has admitted that it is true and that it occurred during the time that his wife has been battling cancer. What a ***.
I reacted strongly to the admission because I read Elizabeth Edwards autobiography, Saving Graces, last fall, and I found it to be one of the most touching and powerful books that I have read in recent memory. The original book was published in 2006, when it appeared that her breast cancer had fallen into remission. A postscript chapter, published in 2007, revealed that the cancer had returned, had spread to her bones, and was now classified as incurable.
I don't know her, but she seems like a remarkable lady based on what she's been through: the death of her first son in 1996, birth of twins after infertility treatment while in her 40s, breast cancer diagnosis with two young children, and then incurable bone cancer.
Despite all that, she managed to write an extraordinary, even uplifting, book. Her text resonates with grace, strength, and dignity.
Elizabeth Edwards: a class act. John Edwards: Not so much.
