What would you do if you were a national hero, subject of one of the biggest stories of the mid-1980′s, and beneficiary of a $26 million settlement related to your abduction by terrorists? If you were Terry Anderson, the AP correspondent who was held hostage by Hezbollah in 1985, you’d end up filing for bankruptcy.
In a story that proves none of us has too far to fall, Anderson filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in early November 2009. He listed 17 credit cards and $1.8 million in debt – most of it related to a failed business venture.
Anderson was abducted in Beirut in 1985 after a tennis game and held hostage by militants for over six years, a pawn in an international cat-and-mouse game. After being freed, he won a judgment of $26 million from the Iranian government for their alleged role in the plot.
What did he do with the money? He funded charities as well as a blues bar in Ohio.
Now, over 20 years later, he found himself held hostage to yet another set of captors – his creditors. Filing for bankruptcy will give Terry Anderson a well-deserved fresh start.
Best of luck, Terry.
For the rest of us, the lesson to be learned is that none of us is so insulated from the rest of the world that our lives cannot be turned upside down by financial catastrophe. A bad business deal, a bad marriage, an illness – any of us could find ourselves filing for bankruptcy.
For a link to the story about Terry’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, click here.
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