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A young writer in New York City began a very special journey immediately following
the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. In the spirit of Studs Terkel and the Roosevelt Administration's WPA Slave Narratives, Damon DiMarco set about constructing |
a comprehensive oral history of the attacks on the World Trade Center. The result was Tower Stories: An Oral History of 9/11, a living time capsule of the day that forever changed America in the words of the people who were there.
"I hope this book remains in print
for a very long time to come, because everyone should
read it. Our children should read it. With regard to
9/11, we - as a people -cannot allow a myth to take
root. We must ground ourselves in our pain if we have
any hope of moving forward. And move forward we must."
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| - Tom Kean, Chairman
of the 9/11 Commission |
| (from the foreword to
Tower Stories.) |
A year and a half after his mission began, DiMarco's list of interviews spanned a staggeringly broad cross-section of participants in September 11th . . .
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Policemen, firemen, paramedics, reporters, volunteers from all walks of life, escapees from the towers, eye-witnesses, WTC structural engineers, political experts, political dissidents, small business owners in Manhattan, children and more. . .
All lent their voices to what would become the finest and most dignified public record of that day, and the days that followed. No other book written about September 11th displays the compassion, the breadth of focus, and the exacting eye for detail that Tower Stories offers on every single page.
"This volume defends the understanding, as also the horror, of that day.
We are indebted to Mr. DiMarco for the effort and for the editorial acuity."
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| - William F. Buckley, Jr. |
"The only widely available oral history of 9/11 from the perspective of New Yorkers, this monumental work (originally released by Revolution in 2004) has been updated for the sixth anniversary of the national tragedy. In the weeks following the World Trade Center attack, DiMarco, in the tradition of Studs Terkel, wandered Manhattan collecting the stories of Gothamites who survived the collapse of the towers, came to help or simply bore witness-whether from elsewhere in the city, across the country or overseas . . . DiMarco's contribution to the memory of that horrific day is enormous; the testimonies collected here form an amazing, one-of-a-kind account."
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| - STAR REVIEW from Publishers Weekly |
Tom Haddad and the BUS DRAWINGS PROJECT
The story of Tom Haddad is the first one featured in the new revised and updated edition of Tower Stories from Santa Monica Press. A visual artist by training and trade, Tom was working on the 89th floor of Tower 1 when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the building two stories above his head. Miraculously, he and his coworkers survived. They endured a perilous journey, walking all the way down to ground level of the WTC and exiting their Tower mere moments before it collapsed on top of them.
Tom's story is fantastic. But the tale of his 'recovery' may hold even more interest for people who struggle to integrate 9/11 into their daily lives. Having endured great trauma, Tom tried sorting out his feelings and perceptions of 9/11 through therapy. It didn't work. Tom found little relief through the talking cure.
Then Tom's wife, Kim, handed him a sketch pad. "This is what you do," she said. "Work it out on this." So began the BUS DRAWINGS PROJECT.
Tom commutes on the bus to and from Manhattan everyday, an hour each leg. For the past six years, he's used the time to do nothing but draw. The bus has become has studio.
To date, he's filled more than 20 notebooks with stark, curious, and often disturbing images that spring directly from his subconscious. Many of his pieces have to do with 9/11. Many more seem to concern Tom's impressions of how America and the world have changed since the events at the Towers took place.
Some examples of Tom's work are currently posted at www.coroflot.com/thaddad.
We encourage you to visit and get to know the unique work of this gifted, up-and-coming artist.
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