A Madoff Victim Tells Her Story

Alexandra Penney has seen both good times and bad.

During one rough patch, she worked three jobs as a single mom and cashiered at a fish market in rubber boots and overalls. Later, she penned five New York Times bestsellers. That was followed by a stint as editor-in-chief of SELF magazine.

Suddenly she had lots of money and wanted to invest it wisely. As she explains at The Daily Beast:

...I asked around and talked to my smartest friends with Harvard and Wharton MBAs. There appeared to be a secret society of Madoff investors. A friend who was older, wealthier, and more established somehow got me in. I've always had good luck, and I thought it was another stroke of good fortune to be invested with the legendary Bernard Madoff.

As we all know now, she was one of many who lost nearly everything.

Now a painter with no steady source of income, she writes that she'll have to give up her SoHo studio, sell her cottage in West Palm Beach, let go her three-days-a-week maid who irons the 40 white shirts that are a wardrobe mainstay and the outfit of choice each day. Her near-destitute condition has led her to ride the subway for the first time in 30 years.

Her commentary "The Bag Lady Papers" is followed by comments just as compelling. One from Hammett practically screams off the page:

Hey, you're worried about clean white shirts. So, you're going to have to learn how to iron and stand there until your back hurts, like most people. That's life. Get off your ass, and get to work. And stop feeling sorry for yourself.

Skyrider shows much more compassion:

What a perfectly horrendous situation. I wish you all the best and know that a sharp, talented woman such as you will find a way to turn this around.

If we plotted where we stand on a continuum of benefit and loss as compared to each other, how much easier it would be to understand and care about each other's situation. Everything is relative.

Is Penney's loss greater because the dollar amounts are so high and the fall so steep? Or does she still have privileges - access, associations, education - that many of us will never enjoy? As one reader notes, "You have not mentioned the most important thing you still have - your health."

I feel for her. And yet...she is well-connected enough to be able to write of her plight and have it published online (and receive a small amount of financial compensation as she acknowledges.) In this sense, she's already in a better position than most.

How many women are struggling in silence and fear, at the end of their rope with no way of making ends meet, and one month away from foreclosure, eviction, and homelessness? Probably thousands. Who's telling their story?

Related articles:

• Middle Class Homelessness and Bag Lady Syndrome
• Madoff Ponzi Scheme Fooled Big Investors
• The Madoff Scandal
• Dying To Avoid Foreclosure