September 2011 On Sale: August 23, 2011 384 pages ISBN: 0670022934 EAN: 9780670022939 Hardcover $26.95  Add to Wish List Non-FictionBuy at Amazon.com Remembering 9|11…stories by firefighters A Decade Of Hope by Dennis Smith Stories of Grief and Endurance from 9/11 Families and Friends On the tenth anniversary of 9/11, a portrait of tragedy, survival, and healing from the author of The New York Times bestseller Report from Ground Zero. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, an occasion that is sure to be observed around the world. But among the memorials, political speeches, and news editorials, the most pressing consideration- and often the most overlooked-is the lives and well-being of the 9/11 first responders, their families, and the victims\’ families over the past decade. Dennis Smith, a former firefighter and the author of the bestselling Report from Ground Zero, addresses this important topic in a series of interviews with the heroes and families of those most affected by the tragedy either through feats of bravery in the rescue efforts or heroic bearing up in the face of unimaginable loss. Smith provides an intimate look at a terrible moment in history…

Been thinking about interesting people of late.   The things others do that make me wish I was doing that too.   I suspect that lives viewed from the outside always seem more exciting than they are.  I know when someone introduces me to speak and I hear all the stuff I’ve done, I always wonder who the speaker is –oh…me. It’s so easy it seems to let our lives get sidetracked into “what ifs” –instead of “I haves”.   Our pasts have a way of dictating our present.   And some (me included) can let that paralyze them into losing self-esteem.  Which is hard enough to come by in the first place. Conversely there are also people who are ruled by the future.  Must do this, must do that, and all of it before I reach a certain age or it just won’t count.   Again, I find that I am prone to this particular human weakness.  I often think why didn’t I start writing earlier in my life, then I’d be like so and so.  (Another trap we often set for ourselves — contrast and comparison). But you know the truth is the only moment that counts is the now.  It’s the only…