In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

Occasionally, I will have to stretch a bit to tie a post to emergency preparedness. This is one of them, but I can make a connection — though I would have written a post even if I couldn’t find one.

Steve Luxenberg was one of the nicest and best editors I have ever written for when he edited the Outlook Section of the Washington Post. (He is currently an Associate Editor at the paper). He gave me an opportunity to write periodically in what is one of the most valuable pieces of journalistic real estate in the media/public policy realm. But more importantly Steve — and his colleague Zofia Smardazz — always dealt with me in a kind, straightforward and constructive manner (which is not always the rule in the media business when it comes to non-staff writers) even when they were turning down my ideas. And the final product in the paper was always far better than I originally submitted. (The tie to preparedness is that Outlook published my article on the topic, “It’s An Emergency: We’re Not Prepared,” last May.)

Steve has a new book out called “Annie’s Ghosts” (Hyperion). The book details his search for information on his mother’s younger sister whose existence had been hidden from him. It turned out that the sister had been sent away to an institution. So, Luxenberg set out on a mission — which took him to Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Austin and even Ukraine — to find out more about his family and try to determine why his mother lied to him and others for so many years.

I have not yet read the book, but my wife already has. And she really liked it. So, I asked her for a short review:

“Annie’s Ghosts is a fascinating true story of family secrets that leaves you wondering what you would uncover if you were brave enough to dig into your own family history. It is also an illuminating look at how the special needs population was treated or mistreated in America — a subject still relevant and frought with controversy today.”

My wife also pointed out to me that the book actually does involve emergency preparedness and response — dealing with family members who are ill or in crisis (though she adds, correctly, that most everything in life has to do in some way with preparing and responding). By the way, my wife has already recommended the book to several friends as well as her mother. If you want to purchase the book, you can do so here.