Glenn Beck gets a lot of mileage out of the story of his mother's suicide. It is part of the redemption tale he tries to use to shield himself from criticism for being a full-on jackass.
A Salon article from awhile back seems to cast doubt on the circumstances of Mary Beck's death:
Early one morning in May 1979, a 41-year-old divorcee named Mary Beck went boating in Washington's Puget Sound. Her companions on the expedition were a retired papermaker named Orean Carrol, whose boat she helped launch near the Tacoma suburb of Puyallup, and Carrol's pet dog. Exactly what happened next remains shrouded in morning mist, but among the crew, only the dog would survive the day. The boat was recovered late that afternoon adrift near Vashon Island, just north of Tacoma. It was empty but for two wallets and the frightened animal. Mary Beck's body was discovered floating fully clothed nearby. Carrol's corpse washed ashore at the Vashon ferry terminal the following morning.
The county coroner found no evidence of violence on either body. Police investigators told Tacoma's News Tribune that the double drowning appeared to be a classic man-overboard mishap -- a failed rescue attempt in which both parties perished.
...
Over the course of many retellings, the tragedy of Mary Beck would become the cornerstone event in her son's personal narrative of redemption, and that tale of rebirth would became the cornerstone of his career. But the story Glenn Beck often tells about his mother is not quite the one recorded by the Tacoma paper. As Beck would later relate to millions of his listeners, his mother's drowning was no boating accident. It was a suicide, he claimed, explained in a short note written on that fateful dawn and left on the mantel. And he said it happened in 1977, when he was 13, not 1979, when he was 15 (even though newspaper obits and government records confirm that a 41-year-old woman named Mary Beck died in Puyallup in 1979.) In fact, Beck's first wife had never heard of Mary Beck's alleged suicide until years after they married, when she heard her husband discussing it live on the radio.
Beck has stated:
And I'm going to be real honest with you. My mom wasn't mother of the year. My mother, my mother had real deep, deep problems. She was doing her best, but she left the family to deal with suicide when I was 13 years old.
Beck was born on February 10, 1964, making him 13 in 1977.
Beck has also said (when talking about Michael Jackson's death) he remembers the year Elvis died:
GLENN: Stu, you can't relate to this at all, but all I could think of last night and my daughter was amazed at this. I said, "It's August 16th, 1977." And she said, "What?" And I said, "August 16th, 1977." Do you know what happened August 16th, 1977?
STU: No. I was like a year and a half old.
GLENN: I have no idea why I even know that date. Somebody, a friend of mine, Rob is in the studio. Do you remember, you're my age. If I said August 16, 1977, do you know what that is? Absolutely, Elvis. The day Elvis died. I don't even know why I remember August 16th, 1977. My daughter said, "That's not the date Elvis..." she said, "Dad, you barely know your own birthday." And I said, I don't know why I know. She got on, she Googled it and she's like, oh, my gosh. Now, I thought he was 50, but he was 42 when he died. So but this is exactly what it feels like. To anybody who lived through the Elvis thing, this is what it feels like, except the next day everybody on radio was playing Elvis songs. I remember I grew up in Seattle. So I listened to 11 KING growing up, that and KJR and KING in Seattle went into KING's salute to the King. It was nonstop wall to wall coverage and they had everybody who knew him, they had the old clips, they had everything that they had assembled and they put together, I think this 24 or 48 hour tribute to him.
He has no idea why he knows that date? You'd think he may have wanted to say something like "I remember because Elvis died the same year as my mother, a few months after." It's odd - two such powerful events happening in such close proximity and yet he doesn't think to mention it?
MediaMatters has noted the descrepancies in Beck's story. As has Rawstory. Just wondering if anyone else out there in journalism land might want to dig in and investigate this a little further. Since Beck has elected to make the story of his mother's suicide the cornerstone of his personal public story, it's strange that the facts don't seem to match up. Some may say that it's not appropriate to question Beck on this very personal story, or pick apart his words here and there. To them I say Anita Dunn, Van Jones and Mark Lloyd. Beck is accustomed to holding people accountable for their words, so I wouldn't think he would object to the same standard. Also, if you're paying $20 tonight to watch The Christmas Sweater in one of 470 movie theaters, you will experience Beck's personal redemption story arising from his mother's suicide that he chooses to share with the world.
Another question that is interesting to ask is how someone who is as dripping with redemption and God's love as Glenn Beck is could, with the same mouth he uses for prayer, say these things::
Beck reportedly ridiculed rival radio host's wife for having a miscarriage. Salon.com's Alexander Zaitchik quoted a former Beck colleague describing an incident in which Beck called a rival radio host's wife on the air and ridiculed her for having a miscarriage:
The animosity between Beck and Kelly continued to deepen. When Beck and Hattrick produced a local version of Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" for Halloween -- a recurring motif in Beck's life and career -- Kelly told a local reporter that the bit was a stupid rip-off of a syndicated gag. The slight outraged Beck, who got his revenge with what may rank as one of the cruelest bits in the history of morning radio. "A couple days after Kelly's wife, Terry, had a miscarriage, Beck called her live on the air and says, 'We hear you had a miscarriage,' " remembers Brad Miller, a former Y95 DJ and Clear Channel programmer. "When Terry said, 'Yes,' Beck proceeded to joke about how Bruce [Kelly] apparently can't do anything right -- about he can't even have a baby."
"It was low class," says Miller, now president of Open Stream Broadcasting. "There are certain places you just don't go."
"Beck turned Y95 into a guerrilla station," says Kelly. "It was an example of the zoo thing getting out of control. It became just about pissing people off, part of the culture shift that gave us 'Jackass.'" Among those who were appalled by Beck's prank call was Beck's own wife, Claire, who had been friends with Kelly's wife since the two worked together at WPGC. [Salon.com, 9/22/09]
Beck on Hillary Clinton: "She's the stereotypical bitch." On his nationally syndicated radio program, Beck claimed that "Hillary Clinton cannot be elected president because ... there's something about her vocal range." Beck went on to comment that "she's the stereotypical bitch, you know what I mean?" [Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, 3/17/07]
Beck on Gloria Steinem: "You self-centered, self-righteous, socialist, out-of-control, dangerous, man-hating bitch." Responding to Gloria Steinem's statement that John McCain would be treated differently if he were a woman, Beck exclaimed: "You self-centered, self-righteous, socialist, out-of-control, dangerous, man-hating bitch. Shut your mouth. We might have bought into this crap in the 1960s because too many people were doing LSD. We're not on LSD anymore. You need to start making sense." [The Glenn Beck Program, 5/3/2008]
Beck to female guest: "I've got some time and a camera. Why don't you stop by?" While discussing racy photographs of an American Idol contestant, Beck made sexually suggestive comments to US Weekly's Dina Sansing. Beck claimed that "[y]ou can't take stupid photos and expect those to be ... locked away forever," to which Sansing responded that it was "possibly" true and that "it depends." Beck then asked Sansing: "Dina, I've got some time and a camera. Why don't you stop by?" Sansing did not respond and, after several seconds of silence, Beck stated: "No? OK." [Glenn Beck, 2/28/07]
Beck to colleague: "You are looking hot in leather" Despite introducing CNN Headline News anchor Erica Hill as "the credible part of the program ... with an actual newsperson" Beck told Hill that "[y]ou are looking hot in leather." Beck went on to tell Hill, "I'm wearing leather pants right now" and "Oh, no, I'm not wearing pants." Hill responded: "OK, that was definitely more information than I needed." [Glenn Beck, 5/8/2006]
Beck on being "embarrass[ed]" watching Hill with his wife. In another segment with Hill, Beck told Hill, "I will tell you that it's a little embarrassing sitting there watching your program at night with my wife. And she says, 'Look at the way that Erica is looking at you.' And I say, 'I know, honey.' " Hill replied, "Don't try to drag me in to this one, my friend. I am nothing but professional." [Glenn Beck, 5/10/06]
Beck: Rep. Kucinich's wife might be under influence of "date rape drug" After calling Rep. Dennis Kucinich "Gollum," Beck speculated that as to whether his wife, Elizabeth Kucinich, is under the influence of a "date rape drug." Beck described the drug he had in mind as "not powerful enough to actually knock you out, but it's powerful enough to, like, make you think that you're not standing next to Dennis Kucinich and making out with him." Beck continued: "I was thinking cyanide. That would be the only thing that would really dull the senses enough. Even then, your dead body would be like, 'Dennis Kucinich has his tongue in my mouth.' " [The Glenn Beck Program, 6/4/07]
For someone whose mother had such an impact on his life, Glenn doesn't seem to have a lot of respect for women.