Alexandra Penney, the former editor-in-chief of Self magazine, a
career woman able to provide a wonderful life for herself and her son,
always harbored a secret fear that she would become a bag lady if she
ever lost her life’s savings. Last December, she received a
mind-numbing phone call; the money she’d earned since she was 16 had
vanished in Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme. Truly panicked about ending
up with a tattered coat and a rusty shopping cart, and not knowing
where her next dollar was coming from, she started to blog for The Daily Beast. An avalanche of comments from generous to vitriolic greeted her. That was only the beginning.