They say things come in threes. I am the survivor of three traumas. The first was the brutal murder of my beloved sister, Dorothy Stratten, by her husband, Paul Snider. Then came the gossip, scrutiny, and unwanted publicity after marrying, divorcing, re-uniting with, and now mourning my partner in life, Peter Bogdanovich. The third trauma is the surprise I got when Peter died suddenly and I was left to navigate the love, legacy, and wreckage he left behind.
As a child in Vancouver, I felt like there was always something not quite right. Ours was a humble household, with erratic meals and a succession of shady men courting our single mother, Peternella Hoogstratten. Friends called her “Nellie.”
