THOMPSON'S STARTER WIFE. The L.A. Times interrupts chatter about the supposedly outsized influence of Fred Thompson's current wife, Jeri, to reveal how his first marriage at age 17, to the daughter of one of Lawrenceburg, Tenn.'s leading Republican families, shaped his career. Sarah Lindsey was pregnant when the couple married and Thompson moved into her family home. Her parents helped Thompson through law school, found him a job, and transformed his politics. Ah, there's nothing like pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. --Dana Goldstein
