DAMON DIMARCO, author of TOWER STORIES: An Oral History of 9/11 & REV, JIM MARTIN, who set up a ministry down at the foot of the Towers

ABOUT DAMON DIMARCO AND TOWER STORIES Anyone old enough to remember can tell you where they were and what they were doing the morning of September 11, 2001 , when two airplanes were flown into the Twin Towers of New York City's World Trade Center. While preserving the stories in the original edition of the people who were in New York City on that fateful day and in the days and months that followed, Damon DiMarco's Tower Stories: An Oral History of 9/11 offers additional interviews that provide a contemporary perspective on the tragedy. "Never forget" has become part of our lexicon in remembering the tragedy of 9/11. But why do we remember? According to Alice Greenwald, President and CEO of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, who was interviewed for the new edition, ".remembrance is essential to moral conscience.(to) determine what's right and what's wrong. and to ask ourselves what we are capable of as human beings, both at our worst and at our best." While confronting unfathomable loss, the individuals featured in the book speak to the myriad ways by which Americans rose to meet the challenges presented by 9/11and its aftermath, honoring the many heroes that are found within its pages. Some of the stories preserved from earlier editions feature the small group of people who miraculously made it safely down from the 89th floor of Tower 1; the New York Times reporter who desperately fought her way through the fleeing crowds to get back into Lower Manhattan; the paramedic who set up a triage area 200 yards from the base of the Towers before they collapsed; and the bereaved citizens of New York City who struggled to get on with their lives in the days and months following the tragic event among dozens of others. MSNBC said Tower Stories was "arguably the most successful attempt at capturing the enormity of the events of 9/11. Damon DiMarco's sprawling oral history (presents) human stories.with a raw candor a thousand times more affecting than any cold statistic offered by a commission.a riveting and disarmingly emotional read." This best-selling and critically acclaimed book on 9/11continues in the tradition of Studs Terkel, encapsulating a wide variety of viewpoints from everyday citizens. DiMarco's literary time capsule offers new insights that benefit from twenty years of reflection on the world-shattering event, capturing the voices of individuals such as: . Reverend Jim Martin, New York Times bestselling author and Jesuit priest: "Your interior life, your sense of right and wrong, can guide you. But very often, we don't pay attention. We can't forget how parts of our society were impelled to help.But then other parts were like, 'We're gonna show them.' . Tom Haddad, survivor of the 89th floor, Tower 1: "After 9/11, there was common cause. It was really inspiring. And then . . . it faded.". Stephen Adly Guirgis Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright based in NY: "Still there's a part of me that misses the old days. Like, when you interacted with people in the street, you did it through the filter of We Live in New York." . Glenn Guzi, Program Director at Port Authority of NY & NJ: "I don't mind telling you there were days when I thought, 'I don't know how we're going to do this.' The story of rebuilding downtown is a story of cooperation. we saw the power and beauty of humanity when good people come together." Their stories, along with those preserved from the original edition of Tower Stories: An Oral History of 9/11, not only reconnect readers to what was lost on 9/11, but also to what can still be gained by remembering. DiMarco says, "Originally, the Tower Stories project sprang from the disturbing notion that the memory of September 11might someday fade from the world consciousness. Two decades later I find myself less concerned over what we forget and more intrigued by what we remember and why. Tower Stories: An Oral History of 9/11 is to remind us of the humanity and unity we are capable of as a country, as citizens and as people." ABOUT DAMON DIMARCO Damon DiMarco is the author of The Brown Agenda (with Richard Fuller), Heart of War: Soldiers' Voices from the Front Lines in Iraq, and My Two Chinas: The Memoir of a Chinese Counter-Revolutionary (with Baiqiao Tang), as well as The Actor's Art & Craft and The Actor's Guide to Creating a Character (both with William Esper). DiMarco has been a guest on national television and radio, including FOX, CNN, The National Geographic Channel, and the Premiere Radio Network. He has been a guest speaker at colleges, universities, and community groups across the country. A professional actor as well as a writer, Damon has appeared in primetime and daytime television programs on CBS, ABC, and NBC; commercials; independent films; regional theatres; and trade shows. He has written for the stage, television, and screen, and taught acting on the faculties of Drew University in Madison, New Jersey and the New York Film Academy in Manhattan. He teaches writing to PhD students in the History and Culture program at Drew University's Caspersen School of Graduate Studies. REVEREND JAMES MARTIN REFLECTS ON THE GRACE HE SAW ON THE PILE AFTER 9/11(FROM TOWER STORIES) In those first few days at 9/11, do you remember all the talk about missing people? Posters of the missing went up all over the city. Of course - again - there were no survivors. But we didn't know that then. There was an article in the paper that said if you're a family member and you're looking for someone, you could check lists from all the hospitals. And there was a center set up at the New School, at one of their buildings. On 12th Street, I think it was. I went down there to help people, to counsel them. But there wasn't a lot to do. The next day, I went back to Chelsea Piers. I was still looking for a way to contribute. And this is where the ministry kind of started. A police cruiser came up to me. The police officer leaned out and said, "Do you want to go down there?" I was wearing my Roman collar, so I was easy to recognize. I said yes. "Get in," he said. I'll never forget it. We drove from Chelsea Piers. I was in the backseat with a psychiatrist. I think the police officer had just sort of picked him up, too. We drove further and further south. That's when I started to see how things were. See, if you were in Manhattan . . . say, near the 40s and 50s . . . you couldn't really tell something was wrong. I mean, sure, there was less traffic. And there was the smell. Other than that, though, things seemed pretty normal. But then we kept driving down past 14th Street. And you started to see, like . . . ash. We kept going south, and I saw fires burning all over the place. This was on September 13. We pulled right up to the site. I got out. The psychiatrist said, "Good luck." The car drove away. I was by myself at the Pile. It was really overwhelming, like a scene from a war movie. Terrifying. The scale of it. These huge jagged remains of the building. And it was still on fire, still smoking. Other buildings nearby were still burning, too. And the smell was . . . well. You knew you were standing next to a grave.I saw hundreds of uniformed personnel from every possible agency. Like an alphabet soup of initials: OSHA and CIA and FBI and army people. Policemen and firemen. This was before any sort of order had been imposed on the place. In a few weeks or a few days, maybe, there would be fences. But I just walked right in. Back then, even the term "Ground Zero" was new. I remember looking around and wondering what I could possibly do. And here I thank my Jesuit training. Because, I thought, I cannot work in the morgue. I just didn't think I was capable of doing that. But I thought that at least I could minister to the rescue workers. So that's what I started to do.When I say minister, I mean trying to help them. You listen to them. "How are you?" That sort of thing. Most of this is what we call a ministry of presence. In the same way as if you were a firehouse chaplain or a police chaplain, you help people to find God where they are. To know God's present among them. But you know what was funny? The people I met were more solicitous of me. I kept hearing, "How are you doing, Father? Are you okay? Is this difficult for you?" It was so generous. Everyone I saw was so other-directed. Other-centered. This was evidenced by their already being down there. I found it very moving.So that's what I did for a couple of weeks. I was walking around, ministering, helping people. By that point, we knew there were no survivors. It was just rescue workers. Then I brought other Jesuits down and we celebrated Mass there, which was incredible. I wrote about this in my book "Searching for God at Ground Zero." Which, actually has reminiscences that are probably more accurate. Because, you know, it was over 20 years ago. Which I still can't believe. I just can't believe it. My experience of Ground Zero was one where the Holy Spirit was present. It was a place of generosity and love, community and union. Charity, concord, and service. There were all these people working for others. And remember, you had people coming from all over the country. In those early days, anyone would come in. Firefighters, sure, but also . . . there were these women from the Midwest who'd set up a candy stand. I'll never forget that. So while, for many, Ground Zero was a place of Good Friday - the suffering, dying and burial of Christ - I saw a different aspect. I saw it as a place of Easter Sunday. Because there was a sense of new life there. Both these things present at the same site. What do I mean by the term "Holy Spirit?" I mean God's presence. An active presence. And that's important. Because you could say that God's presence is everywhere, the idea that God's spirit pervades the world as a sort of benign presence. But I believe God's Spir

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