Introduction
In this, the third in the present series of in depth portraits of real people, I propose to present the story of a woman who has known much misery in the course of her life and who will, in all probability, know more.
Her detractors will say that she has always been the author of her own misery, but that would, in my view, be a hasty and superficial judgment.
Perhaps, to an extent, we are all responsible for what ills befall us, but on the other side of the coin, there is fate. Fate, the unpredictable dame who can carry one to the crest of a surging wave, then crash that same person down to drown in the trough of misfortune.
It would be folly to blame all of any life's course on fate, but equally wrong, I submit, to ignore this aspect of human destiny.
The careful student of human behavior will do more than just read the story of Donna, of her life and her loves and her tragedies. He will see, if I have done my job well, how fate contributed so much to what she is, for better and for worse.
Had Donna been from two different parents, in a different environment, there can be no doubt that she would have developed into an entirely different person.
What would she have been? That's a fool's question and I am not about to answer it.
What she is today and how she got that way, is a matter of record and I shall record it here so that the reader may consider the story of her life and times and pass his own judgment.
Much of the material on this book comes from tapes and written interview transcripts. Wherever it seems appropriate, I stray from clinical terms and employ the language used by Donna and the people with whom she came in contact during her stormy passage through life.
I say this at this point in order to give fair warning to the faint of heart, to any who may be shocked by the words which pertain to anatomy, the sexual function of the human body and to love. Ah yes, dear reader, such persons do exist in our supposedly advanced and enlightened society and we must beware lest we offend them.
One final word before moving on to the story of Donna's troubled life. I am always pleased to hear from my readers, whether or not they agree with what I have to say of the manner in which I say it.
Letters addressed to me in care of the publisher will be forwarded to me, unopened and will be treated in complete confidence.