The Unforgettable Terry Anderson
In 1985, he was taken away. Six years would pass until he came back to the world.
It was an early Saturday morning for Terry Anderson as he dropped his friend off. The winter was about to end; spring was coming even in war-torn Beirut. He just played tennis, and he was going to head home. Home was his fiancé, Madeline, who was pregnant with their baby girl. "Don't You Forget About Me" by Simple Minds might've been playing on the radio, or "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Before he knew what was going on, he was grabbed by several men, taken from his BMW, and then taken away. All he knew was darkness. For six years, the darkness was all he knew. Only on December 4, 1991, did the light return when he said goodbye to his captors.
Anderson was a reporter with the AP covering the Middle East. He was about to get a divorce from his first wife (and mother to his daughter Gabrielle) so that he could marry Madeline. He would later say if he had known about his kidnapping ahead of time, he wouldn't have left such a mess. But surely he wouldn't be forgotten about. Look at the Iran hostages. Walter Cronkite made a point of saying how long they were in captivity. It was all over the news. Surely, there would be an outcry.
There wasn't. Not much of one. Hostages was so 1980. No one wanted to tie yellow ribbons for hostages anytime soon. It's 1985! Wear bright colors, don't worry, be happy. Besides, wasn't it his own fault? After all, what do you think would happen when you're working in a country like Lebanon? One woman knew he couldn't be forgotten: Anderson's sister, Peggy Say. She started going on talk shows, demanding his release. She kept reminding people that he was a father; daughter Sulome was born three months after his kidnapping. On the fifth anniversary of his kidnapping, Sulome was shown in a video performing a dance step. Almost two years passed before she finally got her wish: to meet her father.
Anderson was in his cell when his captors ordered him to come out. They gave him new clothes and then took him to Damascus. In hours, he was giving a press conference to CNN. He looked delighted to be free but had to leave soon: "I have a date with a couple of beautiful ladies, and I'm already late." His only complaint was that his shoes were too tight.
He was flown to Germany with Madeline and Sulumone, where Peggy awaited. Holding yellow roses, he laughed as Peggy ran into his arms. His homecoming was sorely needed: the glow of winning the Gulf War had gone off, and we were stuck in a recession. Seeing Anderson laughing, holding red-coated Sulome's hand, was a boost we needed. MC Hammer dedicated his performance to the US hostages on Saturday Night Live that week, declaring they were "too legit to quit." News outlets played the reunion on 1991 retrospectives with Anderson's hugging Peggy to Natalie Cole singing "Unforgettable" with her dad Nat King Cole. Anderson married Madeline, and it seemed like he had a happy ending.
But it wasn't happy. Anderson had PTSD, often going into rages at night, scaring Sulome. She later wrote a book about her father called The Hostage's Daughter, which also detailed her problems with mental illness and her regret she didn't get to know better her aunt Peggy, who died in 2015 of lung disease. The marriage to Madeline didn't work out. He ran for office but lost in 2004. “I had problems, and it took me a long time to begin to cope with them,” he said. “People ask me, ‘Did you get over them?’ I don’t know! Ask my ex-wife — ask my third ex-wife. I don’t know; I am who I am...I was damaged a great deal more than I was aware of — than anyone was aware of,” he would later say in an interview. Many of his fellow hostages would suffer from depression and died early deaths.
When Sulome confirmed her father's death Sunday afternoon, one couldn't help but think of her still as the curly-haired girl in the red coat, finally meeting her daddy. After his death, one could only hope Peggy awaited him and ran into his arms, laughing. Natalie Cole and her dad are singing in the wings: That's why, darling, it's incredible—that someone is so unforgettable. Thinks that I am unforgettable, too.
Thanks so much for this. I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the news back then, but I do remember it in the back of my mind when he was released.