Journalism & Writing Process
Do Schools Share Too Much With Parents?
Are schools creating a new breed of helicopter parent? Teacher Terri Reh wants parents to monitor their children’s entire educational career online. “I post all my students’ responsibilities, their current and upcoming assignments, and timelines for every project they have,” says the teacher at Flagstaff Academy in Longmont, Colorado…Continue Reading
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Is Underage Drinking Ever OK?
Before dropping off his son at Colgate University a few days ago to begin his freshman year, New York advertising photographer Robert Tardio went on one last summer vacation with his family. While his wife and youngest son were out exploring the quaint streets of Montreal, Robert took his eldest, college-bound teen out for a beer…Continue Reading
View Blog PostWhat I Share with Angelina Jolie
In 2007 I had my ovaries and fallopian tubes removed to prevent my getting ovarian cancer. It was a surgery of the kind that Angelina Jolie recently underwent, as she revealed Tuesday in a New York Times op-ed. Two years ago, Jolie divulged that she’d had a prophylactic double mastectomy — I had done this as well, in 2012. Along with the effects of the surgeries themselves, we now also share a related fallout: surgical…
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Motherless Daughters and Parentless Parents Trek to the Andes to Aid Orphans
When author Hope Edelman and I started planning a trip that would take 16 of our readers to Peru to work in an orphanage and hike the Andes, we ignored concerns about bringing together a group of women who didn’t know each other and convinced ourselves it was a great idea. Our confidence bubbled up partly because our readers share an important bond that links them to each other and us: We’ve all lost our…
View Blog PostHow Celebrating Deceased Loved Ones Can Make You Happier
After several family members died in rapid succession, including my parents, I struggled with knowing how to keep their memories alive. In the days and weeks immediately following their deaths, I never had to look far to tell a story or hear one. But all too soon, I hesitated to bring them up in conversation. Anecdotes I told my children seemed heavy or forced, and I didn’t want to make my friends uncomfortable. …Continue Reading
View Blog PostHow 9/11 Made Journalists Part of the Story
On Monday, I’ll get to see my triage tag in the 9/11 museum—a reminder of the day I reported live from a hospital bed. There’s a small piece of paper at the new National September 11 Memorial Museum with my name scrawled across the top. Underneath my name, in black ballpoint pen, it says: Abd pain; Diff breathing; Inhalation. The triage tag put around my neck on 9/11 will be on display when the museum…
View Blog PostAlleged Nanny Killing Evokes Mother’s Greatest Fear
Months before my son was born, I began searching for a nanny. The prospect of leaving my first child home with a stranger while my husband and I worked wasn’t ideal, but the only day care center in our neighborhood had a year-long wait list and our families weren’t in a position to help. Entrusting Jake, now 12, to a babysitter seemed like our only option…Continue Reading
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Why I’m Giving It All to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum
The National September 11 Memorial Museum opens to the public today. Timed to this historic moment, co-editors of Covering Catastrophe: Broadcast Journalists Report September 11 have legally transferred all publishing rights to the Memorial & Museum to support its work in perpetuity. The Museum, before it even officially opened its doors, came under attack for having a gift shop, the same store where Covering Catastrophe will be sold. Former FDNY Deputy Chief Jimmy Riches accused…
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9/11 Survivor Allison Gilbert On The New September 11 Museum And Covering Catastrophe
From almost any spot at Scenic Hudson Park I can see where I nearly died on 9/11. The scene is often unavoidable for me: I live in Irvington and during baseball season that’s where I go to watch my son play home games for his Middle School team. With my back to the Hudson, I wouldn’t trade the view for the world. Nearly thirteen years ago, I was a producer at WNBC-TV and was sent…
View Blog PostFoods Every Breast Cancer Survivor Should Know About
Women checking in for appointments at the Comprehensive Breast Center at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York this month are being offered more than a pre-op or post-op surgical visit. On the reception desk, inside a large plastic frame, is a colorful flyer decorated with pictures of luscious-looking fruits and vegetables. It’s an invitation to attend “Superfoods and Super Habits for Super Health,” a seminar that promises to teach patients the foods they should…
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Can the Human Blueprint Have Owners? BRCA Test, Vital for Me, Shouldn’t Be Limited
Myriad began offering BRCA1 and BRCA2 testing in 1996, the same year my mother died of ovarian cancer. Since then, Myriad reports to have screened more than one million patients. That includes Angelina Jolie, and me. Jolie and I have a lot in common: Her mother died of ovarian cancer when she was 56; my mother died of ovarian cancer when she was 57. Angelina tested positive for BRCA1; so did I….Continue Reading
View Blog PostHLN Raising America: Kids Punch, Kick & Tackle Their Way to the Top
Aidan Thome is 8 years old and preparing for what is likely the biggest moment of his life so far. Later this month, on February 23, the third-grader will enter a 28-foot cage in Yucaipa, California, with the hope of kicking and punching his way into becoming the number one mixed martial artist for his age and weight group in the country. And he may have a shot. Aidan is currently ranked number one for…
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Would You Let Your Kid Try MMA Fighting?
Jeff Pineda’s eight-year-old daughter, Aalijah, spends every day after school in the gym. Ten hours a week, the pink-loving third grader from Anaheim, California, steps into a cage to perfect her skills in jujitsu, wrestling, and kickboxing. Some parents might wince watching these sessions; after all, Aalijah gets repeatedly pummeled….Continue Reading
View Blog PostGrief – Death of a Child
When it was revealed yesterday that 8-year-old Martin Richard was one of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, Aren Almon Kok felt an immediate, sickening tightness in her gut. She’s never met the Richard family and lives nearly two thousand miles away. But she may understand more than most of us what Martin Richard’s father is likely going through right now while his wife and daughter remain severely injured following the attack….Continue Reading
View Blog PostHow to Raise a Winning Child
Authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman have made a habit of slaying the sacred cows of parenting in their writing on child development. The pair made headlines two years ago in “NurtureShock” — their first book together — in which they criticized the way many parents choose to raise their children. Authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman have made a habit of slaying the sacred cows of parenting in their writing on child development. The…
View Blog PostHow to Give Back on Your Next Getaway
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service is inspiring people across the country to volunteer this holiday weekend. But if you’re itching to do more — perhaps turning your next family vacation into a series of teachable moments about the importance of giving back — there are plenty of opportunities to make that happen….Continue Reading
View Blog PostJournalist and Survivor: The Rules Blurred on 9/11
A continuous shower of debris rained on my head, shoulders, and back. I couldn’t tell when it would end because I couldn’t even see my hands. Feeling around my surroundings with my fingers, I determined I wasn’t trapped. Within minutes, a triage tag was forced around my neck and I was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Doctors in the ER cut off my clothes and stuck a tube down my throat to see if…
View Blog PostWhy More Women are Choosing Double Mastectomies
Ten months ago, Vanessa Thiemann lay in bed unable to sleep. The 42-year-old single mother of two had a sinus infection, and the pain was making her restless. She tried getting comfortable on her left side, then her right, but she ended up staring at the ceiling in complete darkness, her left hand coming to rest on her chest….Continue Reading
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Why Looking at a Photo Can Ease Loneliness and Grief
In the photograph, my mother and I are sitting on the stone lip of a large circular fountain in Paris. Shoulder to shoulder, we’re leaning into each other, fingers interlaced, my head tilted toward her cheek. It’s Saturday, August 31, 1985, and I’m 15 years old. We are in the Tuileries Garden, giddy tourists on a mother-daughter adventure that began just that morning when we landed in France from New York. Studying the photo now,…
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