One cold winter morning, I sat in the Connecticut home of two gracious, heartbroken people. Lee and Eunice Hanson tore open the scars of loss and recounted the agony of watching on television as United Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower bearing their son, Peter, his wife, Sue Kim, and their granddaughter, Christine. I am filled with gratitude to the Hansons and everyone who shared their stories, all of whom asked only in return that I write to the best of my ability.
Special thanks also to Paul Adams, Brynn Bender, Bernard Brown Sr., Sinita Brown, Debra Burlingame, Janet Cardwell, Brian Clark, Ron Clifford, John Creamer, Colin Creamer, Nora Creamer, Gerry Creamer, Julie Creamer, Tina Creamer, Moussa Diaz, Elaine Duch, Rob “Boomer” Elliott, Harry Friedenreich, Gerry Gaeta, Jack Gentul, Robert Grunewald, Allan Hackel, Peg Ogonowski Hatch, Jerry and Kathy Henson, Jay Jonas, Jack Keane, Andrea LeBlanc, Christian John Lillis, Cecilia Lillo, Mike Low, Andrea Maffeo, Father Stephen McGraw, Rasha McMillon, Wally Massenburg, Ray Murray, Kevin Nasypany, Cathie Ong-Herrera, Heather “Lucky” Penney, Stanley Praimnath, Janice Punches, Jennifer Punches-Botta, Jeremy Punches, Sonia Tita Puopolo, Julie Sweeney Roth, Bruce Russell, Terry Shaffer, Dr. David Tarantino, Dave Thomas, Millie Wears, Marilyn Wills, Michael Woodward, and Chris Briggs Young.
At the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, a magnificent place and a tremendous educational resource, I received help and encouragement from Alice Greenwald, Jan Ramirez, and Cliff Chanin. Among many other benefits, they connected me to Martha Feltenstein and Jim Connors, who helped solve a longstanding mystery about the identity of the messenger killed alongside Elaine Duch.
In addition to participating in the events described here, Donna Glessner and Kathie Shaffer provided insights into the events of Flight 93 and valuable thoughts on the entire manuscript. One huge benefit of this work is making friends with people like them.
This book would never have been written without Richard Abate, a true friend and helicopter parent to my career. Claire Wachtel, who edited two of my previous books, embraced this idea with her trademark passion. Luke Dempsey battled my bad habits and improved this work in countless ways. Jonathan Burnham advocated for this book from start to finish. I’m grateful to the entire Harper team, including Doug Jones, Leah Wasielewski, Katie O’Callaghan, Tina Andreadis, Kate D’Esmond, Haley Swanson, Nate Knaebel, Emily DeHuff, Robin Bilardello, and Leah Carlson-Stanisic.
Researching this book was like planning an assault on Everest. Sarah Kess created order out of chaos by building elaborate timelines that guided every step of the way, then offered wise comments on the end result. Mariya Manzhos proved her gifts as an investigative reporter by helping to track down hundreds of people with 9/11–related stories, then spotting glitches in the manuscript. Thanks also to graduate research assistants Ana Goni-Lessan, Geoff Line, and Meggie Quackenbush. Steve Wylie of Pat Casteel Transcripts is a lifesaver. Thanks to Rachel Kim of 3Arts for help in a million ways.
Anneliese J. Thomson, official court reporter for the Honorable Leonie M. Brinkema, enabled me to obtain thousands of pages of the Moussaoui trial transcript. Thanks to Stephen Lofgren and Kate Richards at the U.S. Army Center for Military History; LCDR Lauren Cole, director of the Navy Office of Information East; and Adam Berenbak, archivist in the Center for Legislative Archives at the National Archives and Records Administration.
Retired Army colonel Miles Kara, an investigator on the 9/11 Commission and a scholar of 9/11 events in the air, provided invaluable help and advice. Miles introduced me to John Farmer, senior counsel to the 9/11 Commission and author of the excellent book The Ground Truth, whose encouragement and suggestions enriched this work immeasurably. I’m beyond grateful for the expertise of Priscilla Jones, PhD, chief of Histories and Studies, Air Force Historical Support Division.
My professional home is Boston University, where I’m privileged to teach journalism and hold the Sumner M. Redstone Chair in Narrative Studies. Dean Tom Fiedler has been a true friend and an outstanding leader. I’m buoyed by the encouragement of my Department of Journalism comrades: Chris Daly, Anne Donohue, Noelle Graves, Michael Holley, Michelle Johnson, Greg Marinovich, Bill McKeen, Maggie Mulvihill, Safoura Rafeizadeh, Jane Regan, Caryl Rivers, Peter Smith, Susan Walker, and Brooke Williams. I enjoy the great fortune of a thirty-plus-year friendship with my BU colleague Dick Lehr, a gifted author and journalist. He’s a superb editor, too.
At the Boston Globe, I shared the byline on the lead news story on 9/11 with Matthew Brelis, a first-class aviation reporter and a great guy. We received help from Globies including Anne Barnard, Sandy Coleman, Bud Collins, John Ellement, Mary Leonard, Raja Mishra, Brian Mooney, Shelley Murphy, Michael Paulson, Ralph Ranalli, and Robert Schlesinger. Our all-star editors included Marty Baron, Helen Donovan, Greg Moore, Ben Bradlee Jr., Tom Mulvoy, Mark Morrow, Ken Cooper, and Charlie Mansbach.
Globe editor Brian McGrory is the best newsman I know and my closest friend. He contributed to that first 9/11 story and to my life in more ways than I can count. Also part of that original team was the peerless Steve Kurkjian, who magically appeared at the beginning of my career and has been a guiding light ever since. Before Mike Rezendes was immortalized in the movie Spotlight, we worked together on early stories about the hijackers. He is every bit as dogged as Hollywood portrayed him.
I owe extra thanks to four exceptional journalists who contributed to “Six Lives,” the narrative model for this book, published the Sunday after 9/11: Tina Cassidy, Caroline Louise Cole, Bella English, and Tatsha Robertson. Earlier in my career, I learned the craft from Marty Nolan, Gerry O’Neill, Matt Storin, Steve Bailey, Michael Larkin, Al Larkin, Ellen Clegg, the late John C. Burke, and other great journalists who helped me every day.
I’m blessed with the support of longtime friends, among them Naftali Bendavid, Chris Callahan, Dan Field, Colleen Granahan, Joann Muller, Ruth and Bill Weinstein, and my oldest buddy, Jeff Feigelson. I wouldn’t be here without my first mentor, the late, great Wilbur Doctor.
This is the only place where my family comes last. The small but fierce Zuckoff and Kreiter clans have encouraged my professional pursuits in every way, starting with my brother, Allan Zuckoff, whose intellect and integrity remain models for me.
Our late mother, Gerry Zuckoff, is a blessed memory and a cherished presence. Her empathy is my greatest influence. My father, Sid Zuckoff, a retired New York City high school history teacher, was my first editor in life and on this book. As his granddaughters say, we should all be more like Sid.
Speaking of my daughters, Isabel and Eve, they are constant sources of inspiration, joy, and naches. They are my heart. My wife, Suzanne, got me through this. She makes everything that matters possible. Thank you for my life.