Globe section on beauty queen scandals

Discussion in 'Justice for JonBenet Discussion - Public Forum' started by wombat, Jun 8, 2005.

  1. wombat

    wombat Member

    The latest issue of the globe, at your checkout lines now, has a section on beuaty-queens-gone-bad, and there's a section on Former Miss West Virginia Patsy Ramsey and her murdered daughter JonBenet. It says Miss Pats is in late stage cancer, and that she probably won't live to see the murderer caught. Whatever.

    What I found interesting is the section on Marilyn Van Derber, a Miss America of the 50s, who came out later in life to say that beneath her beautiful image she was a mess, because her father had been raping her since she was a little girl.

    Miss Van Derber has a web site called missamericabyday.com (she has a book out by that name). The first thing on it is: "She was sexually violated by her father from age 5 to age 18. She was 53 years old before she was able to speak the words in public, “I am an incest survivor.†She opened the door for tens of thousands of sexual abuse survivors to also speak the words, many for the first time, within their own families and communities."

    Then there is an excerpt from chapter 2 of her book: Chapter 2: "The Night Child"

    "Click. She was on the first step. Then, slowly, very slowly, click, down to the second step. Then even more slowly we heard the third click as she stepped down the third step. My door was less than six feet away. Finally! My mother was coming. Finally it would be over. At the sound of the first click, my father had frozen. I had frozen. We remained motionless at the second click and the third. It was a dramatic moment in time when each of us knew what the other was thinking. It seemed like minutes, but I'm sure it was only seconds. Then we heard another click, but she wasn't coming to save me, she was going back up the steps. She knew. "

    From chapter 32: "A third reason why a mother will not believe her child, is the reason why I feel my mother chose to deny me by saying, "I don't believe you." If my mother were to acknowledge what I told her, it would have shattered her image of the perfect wife, the perfect mother. Her unwillingness to acknowledge the reality of my life, and hers, kept her from ever being my mother, and caused me unbearable pain. "

    I wonder what Miss Van Derber thinks of Miss West Virginia 1975 and Little Miss Christmas 1996. She apparently lives in Denver, Colorado and has to have followed this case.
     
  2. JC

    JC Superior Cool Member

    There are more pukes out there than we'll ever know. I'm glad the light is shining on the SOBs.
     
  3. Show Me

    Show Me FFJ Senior Member

    I tried to request Marilyn's book and couldn't get the book.

    I have watched her in interviews, before Woody started suing everyone in sight, and she had some very good points to make.

    I admire this woman's bravery and willingness to expose the truth. Her mother was a selfish pig and sacrificed her daughters for a mere image she wished to portray to the public.
     
  4. wombat

    wombat Member

    Hmmm...Show me, ever hear of another mother like that?

    I was able to order Marilyn's book from Amazon and hope to get it to read over the weekend.
     
  5. Show Me

    Show Me FFJ Senior Member

    I'd like to see some threads on her book Wombat.

    I remember Marilyn saying her mother never admitted to the incest...she'd shut Marilyn out.

    Marilyn is a very strong woman IMO, I'm glad she spoke out.
     
  6. Little

    Little Member

    Thank you for posting this wombat. Is it any wonder that children who are the victims of their own parents never speak up? It just makes me so sad to think of her as a child, knowing there was not place for her to turn, and who would believe her when her own mother wouldn't put a stop to it. I wish we could protect every child, and it's just plain painful to realize that we can't, isn't it? If only there was a way to take away all the hurt.

    Little
     
  7. Elle

    Elle Member

    Little,
    I was pleased to come across the following site praising this very strong young woman. Marilyn's mother should have been charged and sent to prison for her neglect.


    Thanks Wombat for making us pay attention.

    http://www.newinformation.com/Speakers/Van-Derbur-Marilyn.htm
    Marilyn Van Derbur has proven herself a TV personality, and an accomplished speaker, after having been selected Miss America in 1958. Marilyn is in great demand as a keynote convention speaker. Van Derbur revealed in 1991 that her father had sexually abused her, and now speaks about sexual assault and her recovery from incest. Van Derbur is one of the nation's most visible advocates for childhood sexual assault survivors. Marilyn is a former member of the President's Advisory Council on Adult Education. She also was named Outstanding Woman Speaker in America after 30,000 questionnaires were sent to corp and civic meeting planners, asking whom they considered to be the finest woman speaker in America. She has received the Speakers Hall of Fame Award and is the only woman to have received this honor
     
  8. Little

    Little Member

    Ella wrote:
    It's nice to know there is a site out there to applaud her courage, not only as a woman who now bears her soul about what her life was, but proves that she has taken a horrible negative and worked to turn it into a positive as best she can.

    Little
     
  9. Elle

    Elle Member

    Little,

    Here is a recording we can all listen to:

    Marilyn Van Derbur: Miss America by Day
    aired Wednesday, May 18, 2005
    [​IMG]Listen to Ms. Van Derbur's presentation using Windows Media Player
    Marilyn Van Derbur is a former Miss America, a successful public speaker, a wife, a mother, and an incest survivor. Recently, she told her story to an audience in Sheridan, Wyoming, in a presentation sponsored by the Sheridan chapter of the American Association of University Women.
    Visit YPR's webpage on Ms. Van Derbur for more info and additional audio material.
     
  10. Elle

    Elle Member

    I just listened to Marilyn Van Derbur's presentation. What a wonderful brave woman she is. I see she is the only woman who has received the Speakers Hall of Fame Award. Well deserved.
     
  11. Sylvia

    Sylvia FFJ Senior Member


    Wombat, if I remember it correctly she did make a statement concerning the murder of JB. I just can't remember exactly what she said or where I read it, but it was somewhat like, she saw the same signs of abuse in the JBR case as she herself had experienced.
     
  12. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    I just found this thread and thought I would respond because I have Marilyn's book and have posted a lot on it at Purgatory. I'll see if I can find the thread there and post a link, but it's been a long time ago.

    I got my book by calling a book store in Colorado which sold it. I think the phone number is on Marilyn's webpage, but I'll have to look that up as well.

    It is a book you cannot put down...until you can't take anymore and need a break. What she lived through is astonishing. What she has done in her life to help sex abuse and incest victims is phenomenal.

    The parallels to Patsy Ramsey are also stunning.

    Marilyn was consulted by the BPD or the DA, can't remember which, on JonBenet's murder within a year or two of it. Marilyn was on TV talking about it, maybe Larry King...? I remember Marilyn saying the "duct tape" on JonBenet's mouth was a very clear message: "that child" was not going to tell.

    Let me look for the old Purgatory thread and see what I can find. I posted a great deal on it about the book and my observations, if anyone is still interested.
     
  13. Cherokee

    Cherokee FFJ Senior Member

    I'm interested.
     
  14. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

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