We Were the Morris Orphans

Book excerpt: “They’re not dead, are they?” The officer’s body visibly slumped as he delivered his final nod. From that July day in 1968 on, the Morris family became the Morris orphans: ten children who attracted nationwide attention, and a trust fund that didn’t bring out the best in those who fostered them. Kathi, the oldest, was only seventeen when her parents were killed by a drunk driver. This is her story—behind the headlines—of when the Morris orphans only had their mutual loss and each other.