Birth in Boston Riches, Death in Idaho Ruins: “It was an unlikely ending for a man who

had been born into a Boston Brahmin

family, who had started out with money,

charm, status and an elite education. One of

the enduring American myths is that of the

pioneer who heads West and strikes it rich.

Michael McGuckin’s story is the opposite. He

came to Idaho with everything and lost it

all, leaving behind a penniless family that so

mistrusted outsiders that his children

barricaded themselves inside their squalid

house for five days while the international

news media camped down the road.” A descent into madness, perhaps potentiated by his multiple sclerosis, propels the tragic story. New York Times