Latest news with #newyork
New York Post
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Jelena Dokic's father, known for abusing the tennis star, dead at 67
Jelena Dokic's abusive father Damir has died, the former tennis star announced on Instagram on Wednesday evening. Damir, who was believed to be 67 years old, died last Friday, Jelena confirmed in a social media post. Advertisement 'My father passed away in the late hours on 16.05.2025,' she wrote. 'As you know my relationship with my father has been difficult and painful with a lot of history. 'Despite everything and no matter how hard, difficult and in the last 10 years even non-existent our relationship and communication was, it is never easy losing a parent and a father even one you are estranged from. 4 Damir Dokic, father of Australian tennis player Jalena Dokic watches her in action during her match against Anne Kremer, at the 1999 Wimbledon tennis Championships. PA Images via Getty Images Advertisement 'The loss of an estranged parent comes with a difficult and complicated grief. 'It's an end of a chapter and life as I know it.' Just last week, Jelena talked excitedly about the prospect of becoming a mother and her desire to adopt. Dokic, who turned 42 last month, is a beloved figure in Australian sports. Advertisement The former world No. 4 tennis player survived physical and emotional abuse from her father Damir to forge a successful career as a commentator and author. Dokic continued in her post she had 'complex emotions' about Damir's death and was trying to focus on good memories of her father. 'There are lots of conflicting and complex emotions and feelings for me,' she continued. Advertisement 'For the end of this chapter, I choose to focus on a good memory like this picture (see above). 'And as always and especially important to who I am as a person and what I want to stand for which is respect, grace, kindness, dignity and empathy, I will and want to be that person in this situation too. For now, I will leave it there. 'Please respect mine and the rest of my family's privacy at this time. Thank you to so many of you for checking in on me over the last few days and for being here for me while I navigate this difficult and complicated situation. 'And my final words. RIP.' 4 Jelena Dokic described the abuse she experienced at the hands of her father. new york post Dokic's post has received an outpouring of love from a wide variety of people, including some well known names in Australian sport and beyond. Posted around 6.15pm AEST, it already has over 21,000 likes and more than 1700 comments. Author Jessica Rowe commented: 'YOU are a remarkable woman … I'm sending you lots of love.' Advertisement Tennis great and fellow commentator Todd Woodbridge wrote: 'Proud of how far you have come.' Former Australian of the Year and fellow abuse survivor Grace Tame offered: 'Thinking of you. We love you.' Olympic swimming champion Shayna Jack wrote simply: 'Thinking of you.' 4 On the latest episode of the Mental As Anyone podcast, Dokic detailed some of the horrendous abuse she suffered that had her believing her father may actually kill her. Associated Press Advertisement Dokic's heartbreaking story of resilience has inspired Australians for many years. In a new revelation last week, the tennis great turned commentator said while she doesn't hate her father, she could never forgive him for the physical and mental abuse he put her through. Dokic broke onto the tennis scene at just 16 years of age in 1999 as a qualifier at Wimbledon, where she stunningly upset world No. 1 Martina Hingis before going on to reach the quarter-finals. The following year, she reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon – her best-ever grand slam result – but hidden behind the promising start to her career was a dark story that would eventually derail her career. Advertisement At the height of Dokic's career, her father Damir made her turn her back on Australia and switch allegiances to Yugoslavia, which saw her booed at the Australian Open by Aussie fans who blamed her. 4 Dokic broke onto the tennis scene at just 16 years of age in 1999 as a qualifier at Wimbledon, where she stunningly upset world No. 1 Martina Hingis before going on to reach the quarter-finals. Getty Images Dokic was born in Croatia when it was still part of Yugoslavia but moved to Australia with her family at age 11. It was a move she deeply regretted and never wanted. From there on things went from bad to worse and as her promising career deteriorated with her father largely to blame, the tennis world began to wrap its arms around a broken Dokic. Advertisement But it was only in the last few years the depths of her abuse were actually revealed. On the latest episode of the Mental As Anyone podcast, Dokic detailed some of the horrendous abuse she suffered that had her believing her father may actually kill her. 'I was kicked and punched in the head so hard that it left me unconscious and navigating through that at home, but at the same time, putting on — let's say a brave face — and being able to go out there on the court and perform,' Dokic said. 'I did leave home at the age of 19, escaped during a tennis tournament because the beatings were getting so violent and I didn't know if I was going to survive the next one.' However, despite being a victim, Dokic said she didn't want to be viewed as that but as a survivor who has become an undoubted success in the face of adversity. With the news of her father's passing, that horrendous chapter of her life has now come to a close.
Associated Press
15-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Paper routes nixed for younger kids in New York, though teen carriers have mostly faded away
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — For decades, a carveout in New York's child labor laws allowed kids as young as 11 to legally partake in the time-honored tradition of a paper route. Flipping papers into suburban hedges, bicycling through snow squalls, dodging dogs and getting stiffed for tips became a rite of passage for generations of youths. But a change to the law quietly made via the state budget this month makes clear the job is now not allowed for anyone under 14 years old. The move was first reported by Politico. The change comes even though paper boys and girls have mostly gone the way of phone booths, mimeograph machines and their urban 'newsie' forebears who shouted 'Extra! Extra!' on street corners. While many teens used to take on paper routes as after-school jobs, that became rarer decades ago as more daily newspapers switched to early morning deliveries. Newspapers are now increasingly online and tend to rely on adults with cars to make home deliveries, according to industry watchers. 'The need for a workforce of kids to go throwing newspapers on stoops is just a thing of the past,' said attorney Allan Bloom, an employment law expert with the Proskauer firm. Lawmakers made the change as part of a broader update of child labor laws. Bloom likened it to a 'cleanup' as lawmakers streamlined the process for employing minors and increased penalties for violating child labor laws. Diane Kennedy, president of the New York News Publishers Association, said she was not aware of any newspapers in New York using youth carriers. Christopher Page recalled buying his first guitar on earnings from a paper route started in the late '70s in suburban Clifton Park, north of Albany. 'I just had a 10-speed that I destroyed. It was truly rain or shine. I'm out there riding the bike or even in the winter,' said Page. When dogs chased him on his bike, Page would ward them off with his shoulder bag full of newspapers. At age 13, Jon Sorensen delivered the Syracuse Herald-American on Sunday with his 11-year old brother in the Finger Lakes town of Owasco from the back of their mother's Chevy station wagon. 'That was back when papers were papers — a lot of sections and a lot of weight,' recalled Sorensen, now 68 and Kennedy's partner. 'I can remember trudging through the snow. ... I don't think I ever dropped one, because if you did you had to be heading back to the car and pick up another copy.' Sorensen stayed in the newspaper business as an adult, covering state government and politics for papers including New York Daily News and The Buffalo News. 'The hardest part of the job wasn't delivering the paper, it was collecting,' Sorensen recalled. 'It wasn't always easy to get people to pay up.'
