Ms. Bosco grew up in upstate New York. The second of eight children, she
and her elder sister assumed the responsibility of raising their siblings when
their mother, who was manic-depressive, started having a series of nervous
breakdowns.
History repeated itself when, at 19, Bosco married a teacher who proved to
be mentally unstable. Divorced after enduring a deeply troubled marriage for
many years, and with six children to support, Ms. Bosco turned to writing to
support her family.
She became the associate news director and assistant
professor of clinical health sciences at the State University of New York at
Stony Brook. And in 1974, she began writing a weekly column, "The
Bottom Line," for the Catholic News Service, which she still writes today.
During this period, she also volunteered for five years as a local human rights
commissioner, working on racial, marital and medical problems,
Just as her children were finally grown up and taking responsibility for their own lives, tragedy struck when one son committed suicide at age 27. Two years later, another son and his wife were murdered by an intruder.
Despite all of this personal suffering, Antoinette Bosco has managed to maintain an inner peace with herself and her world. By opening her heart to
pain, she believes she has also opened it to love...and to peace.
