Early Life Marked by Abuse and Foster Care
Marilyn’s childhood was fraught with challenges. Her earliest memory of her mother, Gladys Pearl Baker, was disturbing – an attempt by her mother to smother her with a pillow.
Growing up as a lonely child neglected by her mentally ill mother, Marilyn openly admitted to being deeply scarred by having a parent who had schizophrenia. Eventually, Marilyn was placed in foster care while Gladys cycled in and out of various psychiatric hospitals for the rest of her life. What haunted Marilyn the most was the paralyzing fear that her mother’s mental illness might be hereditary.
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