BOSTON, Mass. (WLNE) — Joan Bennett Kennedy, the former wife of Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, died Wednesday at the age of 89, according to Steve Kerrigan from the Massachusetts Democratic Party.

Kennedy was a classical pianist and mental health and addiction services advocate and was the mother of Senator Kennedy’s three children Kara, Ted, Jr. and former Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy.

She married Senator Kennedy in 1958 at the age of 25 and was active in Boston arts organizations, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Council for the Arts and Humanities.

Kennedy also authored a best-selling book in 1992 titled “The Joy of Classical Music.”

She publicly acknowledged her depression and alcohol struggles, one of the earliest instances of a prominent Amer

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