the lottery research

the lottery research

Lottery winners and inheritance?

I am doing research for a scene in my theater class. I need to research first hand accounts of people who have won or received a lot of money. My character inherits something worth millions of dollars so I need to research how people felt when they won the lottery or inherited riches. I have found stories on yahoo about people but nothing in the first person or that really says how the person felt. Anybody know where I can find first person accounts? Thanks!

This might be useful:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney/8lotteryWinnersWhoLostTheirMillions.aspx It is about people who lost their suddenly acquired wealth from lottery winnings

More interesting stories with some first-person notes:
http://www.oddee.com/item_95629.aspx

About a teen winner of 3 million dollars who is now broke. Some first-person comments:
http://news.aol.com/article/teenage-lottery-winner-callie-rogers/648281

This is a bit off mark, but it does deal with sudden wealth syndrome, and maybe it could be useful to you for your play.
http://www.mmcinstitute.com/sws.html
Another similar item:
http://www.achieve-dreams.ca/articles/sudden-wealth.php

Okay, let’s get these off to you. I’ll look some more, and if I find some really good stuff, I’ll post that here, too.
Sounds like a great project you have going. Good luck.

ADDED: I just found this. It has some personal comments from the winner.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/19/AR2006011903124.html

THIS IS OUTSTANDING: It is an episode of “This American Life,” Ira Glass’s radio program that originates at Chicago Public Radio. Chapter Two of this one is especially suitable for your project, I think. You can listen right at the site.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1235

THIS is not exactly on target either, but it does give some insight into human nature where inheritance or the possibility of it is concerned:
http://www.aninheritance.com/stories.htm