Passed away at 61 after battling cancer
The urgent message from the Associated Press told us at 4:56 pm that Elizabeth Edwards had died. It suddenly became apparent that yesterday's news story that she was gravely ill and no longer undergoing medical treatment was an alert that her passing was imminent.
Immediately the news of her death flooded the world of old and new media. Her death zoomed to the top of Twitter's trending topics. Tweets expressing condolences and linking to stories about her life and death. In our world of social networks suddenly Facebook status updates and posting were dominated by her loss.
My personal recollection of Elizabeth Edwards goes back to her husband's second bid for the White House. I covered the democrats debate at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. John Edwards was trailing in the polls to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but he was still a serious contender for the nomination. Joe Biden and Christopher Dodd shared the stage that night among others.
After the debate the campaigns for each candidate went into full spin mode. Barack Obama and Joe Biden each took a turn in the gymnasium rallying a group of a few hundred students. They were not there with their spouses. John Edwards was. Elizabeth Edwards was already a national figure due to her husband's run for vice president four years before. She had also publicly told her story of battling breast cancer.
I was struck by her strength and intelligence. She was not tall in stature, but she commanded the attention of reporters and cameras who surrounded her. She was clearly a key asset to her husband's campaign. She would have been a wonderful First Lady.
She endured tragedy in her life and scandal in her marriage. Elizabeth Edwards remains an inspiration.
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