Rielle Hunter - One-time Party Girl at Heart of Edwards Scandal
By Michael Lang on Aug 10, 2008 in Featured
One-time party girl, , the woman at the heart of the scandal, was born in Fort Lauderdale and attended college in Tampa. But it was from the cocaine-fueled New York City social scene of the 1980s that she emerged as the literary model for the ultimate party girl.
Known then by her birth name of Lisa Druck, Hunter was the inspiration for the character Alison Poole in writer Jay McInerney’s novel Story of My Life.
"It was narrated in the first person from the point of view of the ostensibly jaded, cocaine-addled, sexually voracious 20-year-old who was, shall we say, inspired by Lisa," McInerney said during a 2005 interview that he and Hunter gave to the now-defunct Breathe Magazine, a yoga and lifestyle journal.
"For me you’re a little bit frozen in time, a little bit Alison Poole, the 21-year-old party girl in that book who runs around New York going to nightclubs, doing drugs, and abusing credit cards," said McInerney to Hunter in the Breathe interview as reported by the Raleigh, N.C. News & Observer Friday.
Hunter admitted her heavy drug use. She then remarked on the character’s "need for truth” adding "That’s definitely a theme in my life — seeker of truth.”
Andrew Young, a former aide of John Edwards, has stepped forward to claim that he is the baby’s father. No father is listed on the birth certificate, according to news reports and Edwards had said that he would "welcome" a paternity test.
But wait….the plot thickens! Through her attorney, Robert Gordon, Hunter said Saturday that she would not take part in any DNA testing to determine the paternity of her daughter. "Rielle will not participate in DNA testing or any other invasion of her or her daughter’s privacy now or in the future," Gordon said in a statement.
Is there anyone besides my Mother and I who believes that this affair was, in some way, orchestrated by Hunter? It certainly would be in keeping with her character and her self-admitted reported behavior.
Right! Rielle Hunter, the princess of principles, is concerned with her child’s privacy. Or could it be that she has a better chance of milking John Edwards if the child’s father remains a mystery? Umm….inquiring minds want to know.
A truth, acknowledged by Edwards on Friday, is that Hunter and the onetime Democratic presidential contender had an extramarital affair in 2006 that both tried for months to cover up. Edwards said in an interview with ABC’s Nightline that soon after the affair ended, he confessed to his wife Elizabeth, who is battling an incurable form of breast cancer.
He described his wife’s reaction as "furious." The couple continued campaigning together until he abandoned his presidential bid on Jan. 30. In admitting that he lied about his relationship with Hunter, 44, the former North Carolina senator said he was "ashamed" of his conduct. Hunter gave birth to a baby girl, Frances Quinn Hunter, on Feb. 27. Edwards, 55, admitted that he visited Hunter in Beverly Hills hotel last month, but denies that he is the father of the child.
Earlier Saturday, ABC News quoted Hunter’s younger sister Melissa, 38, as challenging Edwards to take the test. "Somebody must stand up and defend my sister," said Melissa, whose last name was not given. She described her sister, older by eight years, as "the sweetest, most caring person one could ever hope to meet."
Hunter, then still known as Lisa Druck, moved to New York after attending the University of Tampa and briefly dated McInerney in the early 1980s, the author told the New York Post in a story published Wednesday. He said she was taking acting classes.
McInerney, who became a literary star with the publication in 1984 of Bright Lights, Big City, told the Post that he spent a lot of time with Hunter and her friends, "whose behavior intrigued and appalled me to such an extent that I ended up basing a novel on the experience."
In that novel, Story of My Life, Poole, the narrator, says: "Most of the guys I know have really high-powered jobs and make up for lost time when they’re not in the office. The Berserk After Work Club. I seem to attract them in a big way, all these boys in Paul Stuart suits with six-figure salaries and hellfire on a dimmer switch in their eyes."
Lisa Druck became Lisa Hunter when she married Alexander M. Hunter III in 1991. She changed her first name to Rielle after that marriage ended and she moved to Los Angeles to seek spiritual enlightenment, she has said.
A New Age Web site she created, "Being is Free," no longer exists, according to reports. But other Web sites have unearthed some of Hunter’s writings, including this assertion: "On May 4th 2004, enlightenment happened. Meaning, I realized I AM what I’ve been looking for."
Prior to enlightenment, she changed her name to Rielle, pronounced "Riley," and had a go at writing and filmmaking. In 2000 she wrote, produced and acted in a comedy, Billy Bob and Them, according to the Internet Movie Database.
Hunter met Edwards in a New York bar, she told Newsweek in 2006. As a result, Hunter and a business partner, Mimi Hockman, were hired to create a series of Web videos for Edwards’ presidential campaign.
In an interview with the television show Extra, Hunter recalled traveling with Edwards around the United States and to Africa, and said that he "was inspirational to me."
AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE:
Edward’s Mistress Rielle Hunter Does Not Want Paternity Test! (Photos) - “Just as I’ve been saying for 10 months that he had an affair with Rielle Hunter, we know for a fact that is Rielle Hunter’s baby and that is him holding the baby in the Beverly Hilton. He’s not only hiding things from the public, …
A John Edwards-Rielle Hunter Timeline - August 8, 2008 - John Edwards admits to ABC News that he had a sexual affair with Rielle Hunter and that he repeatedly lied about it, but denies paternity and paying her hush money. …
Rielle Hunter: Crazy in Love? - This is just one little gem from Jonathan Darman’s piece on Ms. Hunter in Newsweek entitled What Rielle Hunter Told Me. It’s definitely worth a read if you want to see what a catch this woman is. Yikes!
What Rielle Hunter Told Me - Jonothan Darman of Newsweek pens an article about Miss Hunter and from everything the scribe writes, the lady sounds like a truly gentle soul. Even after their fallout, Hunter had the gracious heart to send him flowers after his father …
Elizabeth Edwards Speaks on Rielle Hunter Affair - Elizabeth Edwards says husband John Edwards “made a terrible mistake” by having an affair with Rielle Hunter, but coping with the revelation was “oddly made somewhat easier” by her battle with an incurable form of cancer. …
