Special Sub-Topic: Death and the Famous Click Here To Play: Death and the Famous

Abraham Lincoln lost his "true love," Ann Rutledge, at an early age. He experienced other losses, too, while still relatively young. Which statement is true of Lincoln's early life?

He lost his mother and his sister.. The Rutledge story appears to be true; she died of "brain fever". Certainly, his marriage to Mary Todd was not made in heaven. As a young boy, Abe lost his mother, Nancy, to "milk sickness": the cows apparently ate toxic material and passed it on via their milk. After that Lincoln lost a beloved sister, Sarah, during childbirth. (Lincoln was never particularly close to his father, Thomas.) After his marriage, three of his four sons would die young.

This writer lost his mother at an early age, then later lost his very young wife to tuberculosis.

Edgar Allan Poe. Poor Edgar had a tough life. He lost his mother, Elizabeth, at an early age. Without a father, he ended up in the Allan household for a while. He later married his cousin (when she was 13); unfortunately, t.b. claimed her at an early age.

This writer suffered the loss of his young son, Hamnet.

William Shakespeare. That's not a misprint: the son's name was Hamnet (not Hamlet). He died at age 11 from an illness.

Isadora Duncan's children also died young. How?

Accident. The children were in a car that somehow managed to roll into the river. The children drowned. (An automobile also played a part in Isadora's death: her scarf apparently got tangled with the car -- with disastrous results.)

Rudyard Kipling lost a son in combat. Which war?

WW I. Kipling's son disappeared during a campaign in the middle of WWI. The body was not immediately recovered; the son's fate was not immediately certain.

This composer died young...but four of his six children pre-deceased him.

Mozart. In addition to having to deal with the death of his father, Leopold, Mozart lost several children at an early age. (Mozart himself also died young...as did Chopin.)

This poet apparently foresaw his own impending "rendezvous" with death in WW I.

Alan Seeger. All four were soldiers during WW I. Seeger wrote "I Have A Rendezvous With Death"; unfortunately, he was right. Brooke and Owen also died young during the course of the war.

This famous author lost a daughter to a drowning accident.

Victor Hugo. Hugo lost a daughter in a drowning accident...then suffered through the profound personal problems of another daughter. (Styron has written in detail about his battle with major depression.)

This woman's memoir, "Breaking the Silence", dealt (in part) with the impact of suicide on survivors: her father committed suicide.

Mariette Hartley. Hartley (once well-known for her TV commercials with James Garner) has had a long career in TV and movies. Her mother was the daughter of noted behavioral psychologist John B. Watson. The others have had other problems.

This actress had to do deal with the gunshot death of her son.

Mary Tyler Moore. Moore's son, Richie, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Although sometimes called a suicide, the capacity of the gun to discharge accidentally creates the real possibility that this was a tragic accident. (Burnett lost a daughter to cancer at a relatively early age.)