Michael A Hess

Passions

Vocation

Notable

American/Irish lawyer, deputy chief legal counsel and later chief legal counsel to the Republican National Committee (RNC) in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was born Anthony Lee in Ireland and spent his first years of life in a convent before being adopted by Marge and Doc Hess of St Louis, Missouri. The issues surrounding his adoption are controversial, as part of a program of forced adoptions practised by the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland at the time, and his story was later told in British journalist Martin Sixsmith's book, The Lost Child of Philomena Lee and subsequently a film, Philomena. Hess grew up in the Midwest and was raised in a Catholic family. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1974 and subsequently earned a law degree at George Washington University. He made two visits to Ireland to try to find his mother, but was unsuccessful in persuading the nuns to divulge any information. He requested that his ashes be buried at the convent where he was born in the hope that his mother would eventually be able to find his grave. He did not publicly acknowledge his homosexuality, particularly in his professional life. He died of AIDS on 15 August 1995, at age 43, although this was not mentioned at the memorial service held for him. Link to Wikipedia biography