Hechehad herpes at age 8; sexual abuse byfather Donald Heche, a closeted gay man, might have begun when she was still in diapers and continued until she was 12.She and her three siblings were often beaten with a wooden spoon.Heche's father, a choir director in a Baptist church who frequented gay bars, died of AIDS in 1983. In 2000, according to reports, Heche drove to the desert and walked some distance to a stranger’s ranch where she asked to take a shower and then settled in the living room to watch a film. On Friday evening, Heche’s eldest son, Homer, 20, released a statement on behalf of himself and his half-brother, Atlas, 13.

A beautifully written and evocative memoir of pain and redemption, of hurt and healing, from an actress whose private life and personal choices have made her a household name. Unlike Patterson's Alex Cross thrillers, this sentimental tale does not translate well to audio. The plot twists seem all the more absurd when read aloud, and the audiobook's maudlin Continue reading »Dad had dropped out of medical school when they were in college and Mom was pregnant with Susan, and although it wasn't mentioned often, you could hear her disappointment hidden in sentences like "Donald!" (Oh, yeah, that was his name.) "If you had only stayed in school and become a doctor we would have food to put on the table! How long do you think I can feed these children on five dollars a week!?" Ann shared personal, raw, and even embarrassing situations that happened to her, but through it all, she managed to deliver a positive and sometimes humorous message, never taking herself or public persona too serious. She definitely did NOT act like a Diva in real or her professional life. Whether one would agree with her message or not would be a personal thing, but one thing was clear to me….she cared. She cared genuinely. She wanted nobody to suffer the pain she had suffered, and a lot of what she shared was her own survival tools she wanted to share with others. Money, fame, power didn’t impress her - genuine acts of kindness did. But, as one of the first stars to step voluntarily out of the closet, she was also a victim of movie industry homophobia – so entrenched in the 1990s that nobody saw it as an issue. It was simply how things were. Both of the leads are excellent, with Heche in particular proving to be a welcome presence on the big screen, allowed to inhabit more than just a supporting character.”

USA TODAY has been unable to obtain a copy of the book, but excerpts can be found in Google Books— someof them now eerie and heartbreaking to consume. If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800-656-HOPE and online.rainn.org). Anne Heche, the Emmy and Tony-nominated actor with a history of mental health struggles, died Friday of injuries sustained in a high-speed car crash on August 5 that left her in a coma and in “extreme critical condition,” according to her representative. She was 53. Heche, best known for her breakout role as good and evil twins on the soap opera, Another World, and for such films as Barry Levinson’s Wag the Dog, Nicole Holofcener’s Walking and Talking, and Mike Newell’s Donnie Brasco, crashed her Mini Cooper into a two-story home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Mar Vista, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported. “Fifty-nine firefighters took 65 minutes to access, confine and fully extinguish the stubborn flames within the heavily damaged structure, and rescue one female adult found within the vehicle, who has been taken to an area hospital by LAFD Paramedics in critical condition,” the LAFD statement said. On August 12, her friends and family released an update about her condition, saying that Heche was “not expected to survive” the crash.

My Book Notes

The Heches had, by then, moved a dozen times in as many years. Amid this upheaval and cruelty, acting offered her respite from her demons. “I found heaven on that stage. I’d been given an opportunity to experience a life and a joy that was not in my family.”