George,

There are several folks in this area that are aware of the REAL story of George Allen and the difficulties that existed between him and his first wife, Ann ....

One of her close friends, an advertising sales person with a Charlottesville radio station, came into my business early one Saturday morning, back in the early 1980s, to pick up ad copy for a flight of radio "spots." She looked very agitated and upset; when I asked her what was going on, she asked me if I knew George Allen? I said I knew of him but had never met him. She told me she had just left his cabin (located on or near the reservoir), and that Ann had said they had had an argument that resulted in a physical altercation, where he had punched her several times .I facetiously asked if he'd caught her with another man; she said it was apparently over the money she earned as a model for the Brown Automobile dealership.

It did not register with me at the time as being anything more than a domestic relations situation and I put it out of my mind. I do recall thinking it was odd that a budding politician would be so reckless.

Later, I heard that the Allens divorced. Once again, I didn't think of it as anything unusual.

Recent events, including the altercation at the Omni yesterday, apparently after the law student pressed Allen about the rumors circulating on blogs regarding his alleged abuse with his first wife, made me realize there must be those who have heard stories similar to what I heard many years ago.

I have absolutely no reason to question the veracity of the individual that made this revelation to me. In fact, I think she was anxious to talk about it, to unburden herself ... she surely had nothing to gain telling me.

Given what I have learned in the course of this campaign about his bullying coarseness, his arrogant disregard for the League of Women Voters and their request that excerpts from the debate not be used for campaign commercials--in fact, his entire background--I am not surprised.

Harry Tenney (electronic mail, November 2, 2006)

Editor's Note: An index to coverage of George Allen on the Loper website may be found at http://loper.org/~george/archives/2006/Aug/925.html