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Home Page > Blogs > News blogs > Periscope > Kennedy curse talk revived after latest tragic death of Mary Kennedy -- Huge extended families will always suffer untimely losses and tragic events

Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Kennedy curse talk revived after latest tragic death of Mary Kennedy -- Huge extended families will always suffer untimely losses and tragic events

Posted on Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 08:25 AM

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The Kennedy family

Talk of a Kennedy curse is already filling online discussions and tabloid headlines after the suicide of Mary Kennedy, former wife of Robert F Kennedy Junior.

She tragically took her own life, at the age of 52, in the family home at Mount Kisco, in upstate new York.

Talk of a curse makes for good tabloid fodder but study the history of any large and extended family and you will find ample tragedy as well.

It is nonsense of course, but it was used when Ted Kennedy’s daughter, Kara Kennedy, just 51, died unexpectedly last year.

It is true that untimely deaths run like a river through the history of the extended family and Kara and Mary were no exception.

But when you examine the deaths throughout the family, they were from war, assassination, and plane crashes; random and terrible events that struck many families exposed to risk and danger.

Four out of Ambassador Joseph Kennedy’s nine children died tragically, but there was hardly a curse involved. Joe Junior died in the war and Kathleen died in a plane crash and John and Bobby were struck by assassin’s bullets. It is hardly likely that Sirhan Sirhan or Lee Harvey Oswald were enacting a curse when they shot them.

There has been much pain in the next generation.

Ted’s two other kids, Ted Junior, who lost a leg to cancer, and Patrick, who has had major substance abuse and alcohol issues, illustrate just how tough the battle has been for the younger generation.

Michael died in a skiing accident, while others, including former Congressman Joe Kennedy Junior, had close scrapes.

John Kennedy Junior was also a casualty of course, dying far too young in that Martha’s Vineyard plane crash.

His sister Caroline remains the only direct inheritor of the JFK family name as a result.

Is it a curse or is it just what any family so large and so extended would go through?

I believe it is the latter. Talk of a curse is nonsense really, this is a massive extended family, always under scrutiny and one in which every illness and death is highlighted.

The mad men who gunned down JFK and his brother Bobby were not acting out some curse, but rather a twisted agenda of their own.

The death of this generation of Kennedys has actually been few and far between.

David died of a drug overdose, brought about by a very tough childhood after his father’s death. John died in a plane crash that arguably was avoidable, and that is it really, until Kara’s death.

So talk of a curse, with such large numbers in a massive extended family, is just nonsense. The Kennedys may not be that all American normal family, but then who is these days?

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seansarto | May 20, 2012, 02:07 AM EDT

I would say can the talk of "sorcery" when ever since obama entered the picture it seems to have made the same scientific, biological effect that introducing any invasive species has on an ecosyste where it is ALLOWED to dominate...It kills off it's competitors...like kudzu..or asian carp...in obama's term alone...how many Kennedy's have died?..It is pretty obvious to a scientific observer...

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Intercessor | May 18, 2012, 12:56 PM EDT

BytheBay: You're right! The tabloids should not be our source of "reliable information," regarding aliens, UFO's, movie stars, the government or the Kennedy Family! Unfortunately, many times the tabloids bring up a reliable pieces of news. Rarely, but on occasion. I will go to my grave believing there was a conspiracy to murder JFK, and many of these stories first emerged in the American Tabloid Press. I particularly like the Oliver Stone Theory, with Kevin Costner. In my opinion, most tabloids are a waste of trees, print and paper! But, on occasion, we get a nugget of information that is too good to pass up!

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IrelandNorth | May 18, 2012, 05:40 AM EDT

Did not the vengeful God of the Hebrews say that he would curse the children of sinners to the 3rd and 4th generations? Vengence is mine, sayeth the Lord? Buddhists refer to it more individually as the law of karma or cause and effect, applicable to everyone whether rich and famous - or poor and infamous(?) (Kennedy/Ó Cinnéide (phon/pron Oh Kin-aid-eh, lit/trans from sing noun ceann/head and eadaigh/clothes - lit helmeted ones as in armoured. SeBelieve me, I know (ahem!) See their family crest, three medieval helmets representing sub-Ó Cinnéide clan by hair colour - donn/brown - fionn/fair and rua/red ). Media coverage of this ill fated Irish-Americans was due to the amplification or magnification effect of press and media.

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irishpjk | May 17, 2012, 11:36 PM EDT

Murder,crime, sex, drugs and drink, I think you could call any of them a curse. I did give up feeling any pity for the Kennedys a long time ago. I will still say a prayer for them and hope that they can change, power and money can also be a curse.

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msymsed | May 17, 2012, 03:20 PM EDT

LacarourSeanB, the author meant Joseph P. Kennedy II. He was named after his uncle. JPK II does have a son, but instead of JPK Jr., his son is JPK III. And truthfully, I don't have much use for any of them. There is definitely no curse...just extremely poor choices in most (not all) cases.

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ongowa1 | May 17, 2012, 03:14 PM EDT

Mary Kennedy is no more ----- I think of the pain her family and friends she left behind will suffer for the rest of their lives. may they find peace. ongowa1

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LacarourSeanB | May 17, 2012, 01:37 PM EDT

Few things here: -For purposes of accurate journalism, Niall, there has never been a member of Congress named Joseph Kennedy Jr. Joe Jr. "died in the war" as you accurately indicate above. Yet further on, you speak of a "former Congressman Joe Kennedy Jr." OK, which is it? Is there an out of time doppelganger here? Was Congressman Joe Kennedy Jr. killed in a war that ended seven years before he was born? The fact is that Joe Jr. was killed in the war. Joe P. Kennedy II (Named in honor of Joe Jr.) was the Congressman of whom you speak. Might want to make note of that for potential future reference. Jr. and II are two distinct terms and are not at all synonymous -Do curses exist? Likely. Is one at play here? Some solid measure of doubt there. -hermit Talker: The "evil one" (don't forget his minions, the bastards...and don't capitalize the name you use so as to refer to him) can "hurt us physically", though it's seriously rare and generally only happens when one either inadvertently or deliberately opens a door to him (them)...and even when the door is somehow opened, physical attacks and harm are rare...but nonetheless have been known to happen. Pax Christi to all.

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Bythebay | May 17, 2012, 01:07 PM EDT

I wouldn't regard tabloids as viable sources of information!

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maryosullivan | May 17, 2012, 11:51 AM EDT

faber1, absolutely correct. There is no such thing as a curse. A family that has overindulged on everything will surely pay a price, and a fawning public will not give them will not give it immunity It would be a public service to point this out rather than giving them a a semi-pass by speaking of a curse

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faberm1 | May 17, 2012, 10:36 AM EDT

This family is not cursed. They have just lived their lives in ways that bring about tragic circumstances. The news reports are specific in saying that Mary was devastated due to the philanderous activity of her husband. She made the wrong choice to drown her sorrows in drugs and alcohol, ultimately leading to hanging at her own doing. The Kennedys learned this behavior from old Joe. He taught them well, and they continue to reap troubled lives from the trouble they sow.

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hermitTalker | May 17, 2012, 10:07 AM EDT

So true JamieML. God does not directly punish or curse for our sins, nor does the Evil One have power to hurt us physically. Mother Nature of course, as in God's creative power at work does punish us for overindulgence in food and alcohol and drugs ( illegal or prescription) physycially and mentally and emotionally, as also happens for not working enough at marriage and parenthood where children are not loved, "presents rather than "presence"- and STDs and other damage from sexual abuse and abortions and extra-marital activity. The old commercial "It is not right to fool Mother Nature" is, was, and will be valid for all humanity until the end

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jamieLM | May 17, 2012, 08:57 AM EDT

@Mr. O'Dowd, you're spot on. The larger the family, the more possibility that there can be tragedies, especially when risky behavior is involved. Cancer and drugs/alcohol strikes rich and poor alike. Other non-famous families have also suffered untimely deaths of numerous family members. I've seen entire families killed in car accidents, fires, weather disasters, etc. Whenever anything bad happens to us, we usually feel "cursed." The fact is, in life bad stuff eventually happens to all of us and our loved ones. It's just a matter of time and degree.

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