Politics | 10/12/2009 5:00 am
Butner on a Budget: A Visitor's Guide for Ruth Madoff, by Eleanor Jones
Our writer explores Butner, NC, home of the correctional facility housing Bernard Madoff, and finds that the town is conducive to Ruth’s current financial situation.
Photo Essay
Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff arrived with much fanfare in July at the Federal Correctional Institute in Butner (BFCC), NC, to begin serving his 150-year sentence for orchestrating the biggest Tupperware party in the history of finance. As a native North Carolinian, I began thinking about Bernard’s wife, Ruth, and what visiting Bernie at the BFCC will be like. I took a trip up the road to Butner to explore for myself, and provide some budget tips given Ruth’s current financial situation — she is down to her last 2.5 million. As she must get every expenditure over $100 approved by the trustee liquidating her husband’s estate, I think she will find travel in this region most appealing …
Editor’s Note: Eleanor Jones is a writer, comedienne and singer living in Raleigh, NC. She was a member of the musical sketch comedy group, The Outcasts (directed by author and screenwriter Adriana Trigiani). She also wrote and performed in the LA-based comedy group, Bellevue Adjacent. Her top comedy hits on national syndicated radio include “Wanna Be a Laker Girl,” “The Leader of Iraq” and “Down Under.” She wrote episode No. 23 of the CBS sitcom “George & Leo” starring Bob Newhart and Judd Hirsch. She also had a 12-year career as an executive at Doyle Dane Bernbach Advertising and Millsport, where she orchestrated big-budget corporate extravaganzas at all the major world sporting events including the Olympics, NFL Super Bowl and U.S. Open Tennis. She graduated Virginia Tech with a B.A. degree in Theater Arts and English and enjoys staying involved with the local music, comedy and theater scene.
Editor’s Note: Eleanor Jones is a writer, comedienne and singer living in Raleigh, NC. She was a member of the musical sketch comedy group, The Outcasts (directed by author and screenwriter Adriana Trigiani). She also wrote and performed in the LA-based comedy group, Bellevue Adjacent. Her top comedy hits on national syndicated radio include “Wanna Be a Laker Girl,” “The Leader of Iraq” and “Down Under.” She wrote episode No. 23 of the CBS sitcom “George & Leo” starring Bob Newhart and Judd Hirsch. She also had a 12-year career as an executive at Doyle Dane Bernbach Advertising and Millsport, where she orchestrated big-budget corporate extravaganzas at all the major world sporting events including the Olympics, NFL Super Bowl and U.S. Open Tennis. She graduated Virginia Tech with a B.A. degree in Theater Arts and English and enjoys staying involved with the local music, comedy and theater scene.
Read more about: A Friend Stopped By, Adriana Trigiani, Bernie Madoff, Butner, Eleanor Jones, Humor, Money, North Carolina, Ponzi Scheme, Ruth Madoff
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33 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
I think what bothers me about Ruth Madoff is the way she was tossed out on the streets. She didn’t appear particularly contrite but she also didn’t appear particularly concerned with appearing contrite either. I think she was in a state of shock. I think she really didn’t know.
Compare her to Linda Lay who went on national television talking about how "it was all gone" and so she knew what everyone else was going through. The ATM of Enron may have been gone. The money and the real estate wasn’t. Including the 12,000 square foot hirise apartment she is now finally selling. Now that the government has apparently dropped its claims against her.
If anyone should have been tossed out on the streets, it should have been Linda Lay.
Hi, Kermie! I think the reference is to Madame DeFarge, a leader of the armies of vengeful men and women during the French Revolution. She positioned herself by the guillotine and as the aristocratic heads rolled, she calmly and placidly sat there knitting, the emblem of a woman whose time had - at last - come around. And one for whom the sight of blood was a sort of fulfillment. So … I wouldn’t say the writer of this essay was quite in Mme. DeFarge’s category - just a righteously angry woman attempting to bring Mrs. Madoff into her new reality.
I know some readers have mentioned that they don’t believe Ruth knew what Bernie was really up to, but I can’t quite bring myself to join them. She is a very bright woman with a degree in business. Surely there must have been a voice somewhere in her that occasionally murmured that the 20% returns Bernie was touting were way out of line with market rates. Surely she must have wondered what he was saying to the auditors and to the SEC. I think she knew full well, actually, and turned a blind eye, just as she did when Bernie had the occasional "fling" with another woman. As long as he came home to her and her life continued rolling along, she simply chose to ignore reality. And in doing so, she enabled Bernie, lived off ill-gotten gains, and helped to ruin many people and institutions in the process.
So now she must "make do" with 2.5 million? Poor baby. I wonder why I cannot summon up more empathy for her? Now let’s see: is it knit one, purl two? Oh, darn, I think I dropped a stitch!
Hi Kermie, Not a matter of good or bad! Just the irony of the story! (Not for everyone).
Mme Defarge is a Dickens character who became as evil as her oppressors, always seeking revenge against the Rich!
The irony of the story here is "Mme Defarge of NC and the Hermes bag"! If you read Charles Dickens you might get the subtleties and analogy! Have fun!
Nice slide show. I believe Ruthie would enjoy Butner’s blue plate specials. Most small towns do not disappoint in that area. Ditto for that good looking pie. I wonder if it’s sweet potato or pumpkin.
I don’t know what Ruth knew ,or what she is experiencing now. My guess is she is lonely and afraid of the years that lie before her. I doubt she thinks her husband is the monster he is. He ruined thousands of lives and dashed hopes, dreams, and life styles overnight . Most of those lives will never recover. I doubt Ruthie or her husband thinks of those either. What the heck. Many were dear friends and family. So what?
So, Butner is a great place for Bernie. I hope he is three stories underground for the remainder of his days.
Cathy,
"But he is just the tip of the iceberg of the people I think should be tried for everything from treason to thief in this economy crisis we have been thrown into."
Great perspective. I hope you watch Michael Moore’s new documentary, CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY.
Great piece. There is not much that is funny about stealing money and visiting prisons and I don’t know what she knew. But thinking of her visiting small town North Carolina is full of irony and funny.