Karen's 15-year-old daughter was always the quietest of her children.
When she was younger she showed signs of selective mutism, an anxiety disorder that causes trouble speaking in settings that aren't comfortable. Karen attributes the condition to physical and mental abuse that she says her daughter witnessed and suffered at the hands of another family member.
Comedian Jimmy Tingle, who grew up in Cambridge, is one of two candidates running for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts.
His sense of humor and personality may end up overshadowing either of the two Democratic candidates for governor, Jay Gonzalez and Bob Massie, whom Lowell Sun columnist Peter Lucas describes as "about as exciting as watching a two-car funeral."
