How a Disaster Led to a Miracle

My book, a true story of ww2 in the Pacific, includes a chronology and source list of the best books I read. After the 1995 Freedom of Information Act, classified material became available to the public, quite a different picture of the Pacific War emerged. For example, my book touches on Dr. Ishii’s human experiments on POWs, the details of which were laid out in a book called “Hidden Horrors” by Yuri Tanaka. Tokyo born and bred, she stated in interviews and articles that she believed Japan should face its past.
While working on my book, I did my day job as a free lance writer. Interviewed many people, including Jerry Rice, Nobel Laureate particle physicist Arthur Schawlow, who used his prize money to found a school for autistic children (he had an autistic son), NASA’s Barney Oliver and Jill Tartar. Later, the movie “Contact” with Jodie Foster told Jill’s story. One of my favorite interviews was John Madden. Sweet man.
Back to the book: the final tightening and proofing required a type of concentration I hate, so I found myself postponing it. Exactly one year ago yesterday, I intended to harvest nonnative plants with the Sausalito Woman’s Club. First thing in the morning, my husband smiled at me, said he’d put on the coffee, and collapsed. A stroke. The mid cerebral artery of the dominant hemisphere, which he and his fellow neurosurgeons call the “bull’s eye.”
I called 9-1-1, and the paramedics arrived in six minutes. Not many communities have that kind of service. The people at the sometimes underrated Marin general did a marvelous job of stabilizing him, but initially they thought he would die. Next: he would need artificial feeding for the rest of his life, as he would never swallow on his own. Furthermore, he would never move his right side or speak. I knew better. A month later, he came home, and a series of nurses and therapists worked with him every day.
Now he walks talks, eats, DRIVES! (He had to take all DMV tests, of course).
During the months of therapy, I had to remain at home supervising (firing anyone I didn’t think was 5-star). You can tone down a state of high anxiety by focusing on concrete fact/accuracy writing, so I finished my story. My purpose: create a family tribute to a hero. You know the rest: Kinko printed it, my grandson posted chapter one, on Facebook, and I landed a book deal with a marvelous publisher. The head of Firefall media, Elihu Blotnick, lives in McLean, VA, and as you know, many military people live there. He had a general and an admiral read the book, and they expressed great enthusiasm. So it’s accurate.
Do I think this exciting book deal would have come along if my husband hadn’t had that stroke? Probably not. My sense of pending mortality triggered by the event forced me to tell Daddy’s story now, while I could. Otherwise, I’d still be postponing, chatting with our local sea lions, and what have you.