Covered Losses

Though wealth provides some protections, the seeds of despair can grow anywhere.

Another life is lost during a game of chance.

James Donahue, Sr. plays cards with his sons and friends when he goes downstairs and takes poison. Days later, James dies in the same hospital where his wife Jessie Woolworth Donahue is recovering from a nervous breakdown. No one knows why he commits suicide – James struggles with gambling, monetary losses, gambling, and secret homosexuality. This was not the first time these became an issue.

Other people and subjects include: April 13th – 25th, 1931, October 1925, Barbara Hutton, Jimmy “Jeem” Donahue, Woolworth “Woolly” Donahue, Assistant District Attorney Ferdinand Pecora, suicide, prominent suicides, jewelry burglary, homosexuality, New York vice crackdowns during Prohibition, gambling debts, dealing with any death, and finding joy after trauma as recovery process.

Extra Notes / Call to Action:
The Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK or 1-800-273-8255, www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org
The VA hospital

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Archival Music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: A Foggy Day by Carroll Gibbons, Album Sophistication 3
Section 2 Music: Just A Mood by Benny Carter & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics
Section 3 Music: Lost In A Fog by Coleman Hawkins & His Orchestra, Album Nightfall – Sophisticated Jazz Classics End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands