Reflections on a remarkable life...

In the coming days, the media accounts of Beverly's life and works will continue, and I will try to find the most notable. 

Beverly's quickly mastered skills as a "citizen activist" were admired by those with long experience in the political arena, among them, Timothy Roemer, who became a 9-11 commissioner after serving as a Member of Congress for 12 years, representing the 107th District in Illinois. In a Los Angeles Times article by Bob Drogin, Roemer says of Beverly: "She really redefined for America how to be an effective activist and committed citizen." He adds, "When she started, she didn't know if the House or Senate was bigger. Ultimately, she was leading strategy sessions, meeting editorial boards, leading rallies." I especially like the photo of Beverly that accompanies the article: she's squatting gracefully next to pile of lumber, clad in a white work shirt, jeans, sun-visor and tool belt, working in Slidell, La. on a Habitat for Humanity project. [Photo by Matthew Hinton, AFP/Getty Images.]

Tragedy forged a special connection between Beverly and the people of Slidell, La. For Beverly, it had been 9-11, and for the people of Slidell it was Hurricane Katrina. Habitat for Humanity projects helped the people of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast recover from the devastating storm. An article by Doug Mouton describes how a 9-11 memorial established by the people of Slidell deeply touched Beverly. "Out of everything you folks have been through," she said, "that you still want to do this 9-11 memorial is just, really, it just moved me, and I said 'I'm thanking the city with my heart, but I'm thanking you with my hands as well." Christine Harvey of the New Orleans Times-Picayune added more details to Beverly's Slidell connection. 

The photo above by Matthew Hinton shows Beverly working in Slidell with her Habitat colleagues. A slideshow with wonderful photos of Beverly's activities in the area has been assembled Hinton, of the Times-Picayune. Hinton also recorded an accompanying narration by Beverly, in which she described her work, and the inspiration she drew from Sean. This multimedia package sensitively evokes Beverly's love, strength, courage and expansive spirit.

There are some lovely and illuminating words from people who knew, loved and respected Beverly in this Hartford Courant article by Jesse Leavenworth. Beverly's long-time partner in 9-11 struggles and victories, and friend, Mary Fetchett, said, "Beverly's friendship, spirit and commitment were an inspiration to all those who had the privilege to work with her. It was an honor to know her and her friendship will be sorely missed." Others spoke of Beverly's multiple interests, stressing that she was not solely interested in 9-11, but her community as well, and the world at large. And when her major political battles were won in Washington, she gave herself a well-deserved break by setting off on other adventures, including long-distance sailing trips.

"She made a difference: Beverly Eckert became a force for good after her husband was killed on 9/11" reads the headline over the editorial in today's New York Daily News. So true. The accompanying photo makes me smile, even now. Beverly is beaming, sundrenched and windblown, an American flag crossing her heart. It is a wonderful way to remember her...

This thoughtful article by Jim Dwyer of the New York Times is warmed by his acquaintance with Beverly, and his genuine admiration for her accomplishments. And we are treated to another facet of her complex personality: "She had the rare ability to separate the part of her that was grieving from the part that was rational, objective, analytic," said John Farmer, a senior counsel to the 9-11 Commission.

"Flight 3407 tragedy silences Beverly Eckert, voice of 9-11" is the apt headline over Michael Daly's fine column in the New York Daily News. And he lets us know that Beverly "proved to have a unique gift" for bringing together 9-11 activists with varied political views, "bridging the differences between civilians and firefighters, liberals and conservatives, all of them hurt and angry."

Keith Olbermann of MSNBC provided an incisive and earnest report on Beverly's work, and the video clip, with footage of Beverly, contains high praise from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

An article by Charity Vogel in the Buffalo News about some of the plane crash victims has this from Beverly's sister, Karen Eckert: "[Beverly] was an extremely intelligent, competent person. When she was faced with what she faced, and saw a reason to do something, she put her many talents toward that.... But she wanted balance in her life, too. She said 'Every day is precious.'"

The New York Times obituary by Sewell Chan adds a few details to his previous article about Beverly.

Beverly Eckert, 1951-2009

Dear Beverly,

Let me write you one last letter, after the many we have exchanged over the years. My fingers falter and tremble, so this may take a while, and my vision is blurring now and then. (Kleenex helps, and so will the comfort of loved ones, and time. It really is true what they say about time and broken hearts. But you know all that so well. Sadly, the relief that comes with the years is only partial.)

What does it mean that the first thing I saw when I turned on the television this morning was your face? You sometimes talked to me about omens, about signs, strange coincidences that made you struggle for an explanation. During one of our interviews for the book, you told me that years before 9-11, as you were walking in the shadow of the Twin Towers, you craned your neck and looked up at them and asked Sean if they would ever fall.

For a split second, when I saw the photograph of your face on TV this morning, I thought they were doing a story about Guantanamo. You had excitedly described to me on the phone last week that your meeting with President Obama had gone well, that you and the other family members got to voice your views, and that the president showed care and concern for your opinions and feelings. I could tell that you were exhilarated by the day's events, not just meeting the new president, but working together once again with the other members of the FSC. In a way, you told me, it was like old times. I was eager to get details about the meeting from you so I could write an article with the theme "the work goes on...."

But the TV report was not about Guantanamo. The reporter said you were one of those who died in that terrible plane crash outside of Buffalo. 

It felt like a brick had fallen on my heart. With hardly any air in my lungs I choked out a whisper to Michelle, in the next room, "Oh my God, Beverly's been killed..."

My mind raced to catch up with what I was hearing -- bad weather, no survivors, the last radio contact. The newscaster's words washed over me as I watched in a daze the footage of the burning wreckage.  Beverly, I know you're gone, but I'm not yet ready to say goodbye. We have a lot of work still to do.

We sat together for many hours of interviews, Beverly, during which I not only learned about your deep enduring love for Sean, and your tireless work to keep his memory alive after he perished. I also heard the voice of an intelligent, thoughtful, accomplished woman. You had an eye for detail, an open and active mind, and a generous heart. I knew from our earliest conversations that this would be an extraordinary book because you were an extraordinary person.

So we will be together again in the coming months, as I continue to transcribe your words onto the page. So many, many words. I know my heart will break a little over and over as I hear your living voice telling your story. And I will read your many emails and letters and articles, the long, long paper trail of your prodigious 9-11 reform efforts. And there will be the interviews with your FSC partners, people on the Hill, friends, family. So much more work to do. 

But be assured, even though all I have now are the words you left behind, No Truer Hearts will tell your story some day. You were always a careful and cautious person, even more so after 9/11. And I remember that you gave it a lot of thought when I asked if you would like to work with me in the writing of this book. One reason you agreed to go forward was that you wanted a "full and balanced" account of the FSC and the 9-11 Commission, and you felt I could do that. I have been ever humbled by your trust. I know how much this story means to you. 

Another reason was Sean. 

I know he was always in your heart. Who could imagine two lives so lovingly intertwined as yours and Sean's? Sometimes, you had told me, you could imagine him standing in a doorway in your house, arms crossed, smiling contentedly at you, and that image gave you comfort. You had told people how brave Sean had been during that final conversation, as he faced his death, giving you strength, professing his love, urging you to continue living a full, happy life. And then, after that terrible day, you continued to say goodbye to him, in large ways and small, planting some trees here, creating a scholarship there, commissioning a mural at the train station where he stood in Stamford every workday morning. 

Your life has been a testament to Sean. The love you shared carried you forward, strengthened you, inspired you. People sometimes wonder about love, but it is simple: love is the good things you do. And your love was great.

Dear Beverly, your life, your good works, your kind soul have sent out ripples far and wide. Thank you for the great honor of working with you, knowing you, becoming your friend. I will do my best to make this book a worthy memorial to Sean, as I know you wanted. And now, after this heartbreaking day, it will be as well a testament to you. 

Your tragic and inspirational  life, your enduring example of love and devotion, and the expansive richness of your soul will live on.

With tears of loss, love and admiration,

t

[Photo by Derek Gee, Buffalo News.]

Some coverage of Beverly Eckert online: 

An early account of the crash appears in this Buffalo News article. And here's a very nice summary of Beverly's life by Sewell Chan of the New York Times. And this Associated Press article by Devlin Barrett contains some wonderful quotes about Beverly. The Chicago Tribune's Washington Bureau assembled some evocative photos of Beverly, including one of the pastoral mural at the Stamford train station to honor Sean. A summary from the Daily News, with a couple new details.

Some of the news accounts mention that Beverly was "fragile" and that she would on occasion cry during her public appearances, especially when talking about Sean. It's true, when deep emotions arose from Beverly's heart, they clearly appeared -- in the tears in her eyes, the furrow in her brow, the break in her voice. This happened a number of times when we spoke about Sean and her reform activities. Sometimes I joined her in shedding a tear, in silence. So trust me: her shows of emotion came from deep within her, unbidden. She had, after all, a big heart. Only those who did not know Beverly, or who are cynical beyond redemption, say that she used her tears for effect. 

And another thing was clear to those who knew Beverly, or stood on the other side of an issue: there was nothing fragile about her. Yes, she was kind and sensitive, but at the center of her being was a solid steel core of conviction. I love this quote from her friend and fellow 9-11 family member, Bill Harvey: "She would never shy from the good fight or negotiate what she knew to be right." It appears at the end of a short Daily News piece.

The comments of Lee Ielpi in this Bloomberg Press article by Alex Nussbaum and David M. Levitt cut to the core of Beverly's success in her many post-9-11 endeavors. "She was an inspiration to me and so many others," said Ielpi. "She wasn't one where you were going to see her name splashed all over, but she was the type of person who was able to talk and guide people, steer them in the right direction, and stay out of the limelight." Ielpi lost his son, firefighter Jonathan Ielpi, on 9-11.

Family Members, Their Lost Loved Ones, and Their Mantra: ‘No More 9/11s’

Like many stories, this one begins with love.

No Truer Hearts will tell a story of  love, loss, and action. All the family members shared this tragic trio of experiences, but the book will highlight the dramatic and inspiring journey of Beverly Eckert, who was transformed from happy wife and successful executive to grieving widow and 9/11 activist.

Beverly and other family member activists had lost a loved one on 9/11, but had vowed that their searing pain and aching grief should not be visited upon other wives and husbands, sons and daughters, as a result of another terrorist attack. Not if they could help it.

This weekend I drove up to Stamford, Connecticut and spent many hours once again gathering information and recollections from Beverly in order to get a step closer to telling this story in part through her eyes. From the outset of this book project, I had decided that it was not enough to describe how the family members succeeded in their reform efforts. I also sought to combine this largely political tale with the individual instances of love and loss. In this book, it is the enduring love of Beverly for Sean Rooney, her husband of 21 years, who was killed on September 11, 2001 in the World Trade Center’s South Tower. 

The “no truer hearts” of the book title refers to the passionately committed drive of the family members as they strove to fix a broken government. But it also refers to the bond of love they had with those they lost, a bond that transcended death, and gave those left behind strength in the face of adversity, and comfort during the many dark and desperate moments of their struggle. 

In the devastating wake of the 9/11 attacks, there survived thousands of tales of love and loss. It is impossible to comprehend them all, but I felt one such story could touch the hearts of many, make the incomprehensible more real, make a massive cataclysm more personal. 

The one great love of Beverly’s life was Sean. And as she recounted to me this weekend the final political hurdles that she and her fellow family members cleared on the way to legislative victory for the 9/11 reforms in the winter of 2004, Beverly's memory of Sean was with her constantly. As she stood holding Sean's photo to her chest at White House vigils, or walked the endless, cold marble halls of congressional office buildings, or spoke at press conferences, hearings and other events, Beverly had in her heart Sean's love, the memory of his infectious laughter and the lasting reality of their shared lives. Beverly had done many things to preserve Sean's memory: plant trees, start a scholarship fund, place plaques, commission a mural. But her work on the 9/11 Commission and subsequent reform legislation would stand as her most wide-ranging tribute to his life and memory. 

Even as we sat in her house in Stamford, Sean was there. The documents and articles that Beverly was poring over were spread across the large dining room table that her husband had made in his well-equipped basement workshop. When Beverly sautéed some shrimp in garlic and butter, it was in the kitchen that Sean had remodeled almost single-handedly. And as a fire crackled in the living room fireplace, Sean’s smiling face looked down upon us from a photo on a nearby shelf. 

As I seek to reconstruct this sad but dramatic chapter in our country’s history, and to tell the story of  one of the great loves behind it, I am glad that I have a guide as wise and brave and generous as Beverly. She will help me take readers on a moving and memorable journey.

'9/11 Press for Truth': An Uneven Critique of the Commission

Unlike many other films and television programs about 9-11, this documentary places some of the family members at the center of the narrative regarding the post-attack investigations. It thus begins to tell the sort of story I will present in No Truer Hearts. But while the makers of 9/11 Press for Truth have their hearts in the right place regarding most matters, the film suffers from a sometimes confusing lack of focus and clarity, raising intriguing questions on the one hand, but leaving many others frustratingly unanswered. 

But my biggest quibble is that the film perpetuates the popular notion that "The Jersey Girls" were the main driving force in the family member movement, and that they alone fought for the creation of the 9-11 Commission, and attempted to guide its activities. If you watch this film and read many other accounts, including the article about them in the notoriously dicey Wikipedia.com, you would hardly suspect that there were other members of the Family Steering Committee, or, indeed, other active family members at all! Certainly the Jersey Girls deserve what accolades they have received. Their hard work, dedication, sacrifice and effectiveness are an important part of the story I'll be telling. The only difference is that my version will be more complete and accurate than most of what has passed for reporting on the subject to date.

I don't want to dwell on the negatives, since this is definitely a film worth watching, but I when I wrote "lack of focus," I wanted to point out that the director tries to take the viewer in too many directions at once. On the one hand, we are told by the subheading on the DVD's cover that the film is "The coverup exposed by the 9/11 families." And indeed we are shown how the Jersey Girls and their family allies raised important questions and uncovered facts about the attacks and their aftermath. But a large part of the film also showcases the work of Paul Thompson, who is not a 9-11 family member, but who has performed a great deal of research on the subject on his own, which appears on a website and in a book, The Terror Timeline. I found both strands interesting and useful, but felt the movie's message would have been more effective and clear if the relationship between Thompson and the Jersey Girls was explained. 

The story of the 9-11 family members and other activists is a complicated one, and most writers think that most readers just can't do complicated. And so they write simple stories and perpetuate easily digestible myths, which often obscure more than illuminate. I beg to differ. Life is filled with rich narratives driven by complex characters. It just takes a little extra effort by writers to present these tales, and by readers to absorb them.

Here is the film's page on iTunes. The film also has a presence on Myspace and Facebook.

Trauma, Grief, Anger, Action: A Wrenching Recipe for Social Change Through the Ages

What is new in the activism of 9/11 family members, and what is old? This is one of the important questions I am dealing with in No Truer Hearts. Throughout history, people who have suffered some outrage, who have been wronged, or injured in some way, have responded by attempting to right the wrongs, redress their grievances, make sure that others would not suffer as they had. People make history by making the world a better place. 

When things are going well, people are content to live their lives quietly and tend to their own needs and wants. But when their situation changes, either materially or emotionally, they can be spurred to action. The death of a loved one is one of the strongest shocks a person will ever suffer, and countless Americans have turned such grief into action, often with the goal of making sure others will not suffer the same fate as their loved ones. Think of all those groups dedicated to finding cures for serious medical conditions, or Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Such activism is certainly not new, but carries on a long tradition of people striving to improve their lives. 

In one sense, the 9/11 family members are part of this group of reformers, but the causes they championed arose directly from the various organizational shortcomings and failures before during and after 9/11, not a disease or social ill. Theses cause have included air transportation security, skyscraper safety, first-responder reform, immigration policy, the various victims' memorial projects, and the government and private sector reforms dealt with by the 9/11 Commission. 

So what is new? Other groups have made significant changes in America and the world, but the family members who pushed for the 9/11 Commission and subsequent reforms literally turned Washington upside down. The result of their efforts was one of them most wide-ranging government reform movements in American history. If the the various bureaucracies in America were the often immovable objects, the 9/11 family member activists were the irresistable force.

A couple of recent articles in the Washington Post set off this train of thought. The first is a lovely piece by Michael E. Ruane about the families of the victims of Pan Am Flight 103, which was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland on 21 December 1988. The article echoed many of the themes I've encountered among family members: the importance of memory, the special bond of those left behind, the persistence of pain and grief, and pride in their accomplishments. The Flight 103 family members were able to pressure the US and other governments "to bring Libyan agents to justice for planting the bomb and to force the Libyan government to pay compensation for it," according to Ruane.

The other article shows vividly how victims' families can be helped and hindered by the sometimes capricious nature power in Washington. Kimberly Kindy describes the trials and tribulations of another group of family members. These were the loved ones of seven Americans killed when a suitcase bomb blew up French-operated UTA Flight 772 on 19 September 1989. In order to put power in the hands of American victims of terrorism, Congress passed the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1996, which opened the door to lawsuits by private individuals who had financial claims against countries that sponsored terrorism. According to Kindy, "Family members of the American victims made history in January by becoming the first and only group to successfully sue Libya in federal court." The judge awarded 44 relatives $6 billion in damages.

But power and politics has gotten in the way. As part of the US effort to improve relations with Libya, the lawsuit was nullified and the amount available to families was replaced by a smaller sum. This turn of events, though outrageous to family members and others, is not surprising. It happens all the time. Politics trumps everything, and those with the power decide on the politics. 

The same sort of "through the looking glass" logic has been employed after 9/11. Saudi Arabia, home to most of the hijackers, and possibly connected indirectly to the plot, was treated with kid gloves for obvious reasons, political and economic. At the same time, Iraq, a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, was invaded and occupied, at the expense of the fight against al-Qaeda, the real perpetrators. It could be argued that the travesty of the Iraq adventure set in motion the "reform movement" that culminated in the electoral results of November 2008.

This post will give you an idea of some of the other themes I'll be touching on in No Truer Hearts.

'Without Precedent': An Account of the 9/11 Commission by its Leaders

If Philip Shenon's book is the best critical expose' to date of the 9/11 Commission, the book written by the panel's co-chairs, Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, is the definitive "official" history. As such, Without Precedent: The Inside Story of the 9/11 Commission often sounds like a book written by committee, because controversial episodes are portrayed by presenting the talking points of each side without assessing their value. In doing so, the authors re-employ in the writing of the book the principles that guided their leadership of the commission: an overarching desire for "balance," moderation, "bi-partisanship" and compromise. 

But as we have seen in the work of the commission, this approach worked like a double edged sword. On the one hand, it could be convincingly argued that the non-judgemental, evenhanded consensus-building style of Kean and Hamilton was a vital strategy to win support for the commission and to permit it to complete its work despite massive opposition from many quarters. However, this method also guaranteed that many questions that the 9/11 family members wanted answered were either ignored or downplayed. And one of their greatest concerns -- accountability -- was pushed aside in favor of other priorities. To their credit, Kean and Hamilton managed to drive the commission down the middle of the road, as it were, successfully guiding it to its destination. They did this despite many potholes, roadblocks and detours along the way. There were powerful people in all three branches of the US government, for example, who had exerted strenuous efforts on one side to make sure the 9/11 Commission was merely a toothless nonentity. And on the other side, there were family members and others who wished to endow it with almost absolute power to expose and punish every example of incompetence, error and apathy.

I am of course particularly keen to see how various books portray the role of the family members. And in Without Precedent we are given a more complete account than in the Shenon book, but still not the definitive version I am preparing. Again and again, Kean and Hamilton note the importance of the family members' involvement, and the complex nature of the commission's relationship with those who were instrumental in its establishment. 

Over the next twenty months, we had our ups and downs with the families, whose list of questions would grow. Often they were our closest allies, supporting our requests for more funding or more time on Capitol Hill. Sometimes, they were aggressive critics, issuing press releases blasting our approach. But there was no question that the families would be essential validators of our report. They had pushed for the commission, they were the public face of the most extreme form of suffering and loss that took place on 9/11, and they were watching us like hawks. If they were unsatisfied with our work, the impact of our findings would be greatly diminished.

I love this image: "... they were watching us like hawks." It was because many, many people were not paying attention to keeping the country safe, "like hawks," that the 9/11 attacks could unfold almost unhindered. This was the sort of thing the family members were determined to prevent in the future.

'The Commission,' by Philip Shenon: Hailing Heroes and Pointing Fingers

I have been reading a number of books pertaining to 9/11 as part of my research, and this is one of the best. Shenon has done a great job of giving credit to the unsung heroes of the 9/11 Commission Report: those hard-working staff members who dug through mountains of documents and conducted countless interviews in order to present a riveting and credible (though not definitive) account of the the rise of al-Qaeda, the unfolding of the terror plot, the aftermath, and commission's recommendations. And these staff members dug in their heels when their superiors attempted to twist the commission's findings to suit political agendas, and sometimes they succeeded in presenting the truth rather than watered down mush. 

In addition, the author is not squeamish about "pointing fingers." Members of the Family Steering Committee and other 9/11 family members throughout their struggles had hoped to bring accountability to the process of the commission's work. But the co-chairs of the commission saw this as a serious stumbling block to their work, and sought instead to criticize inept agencies and outdated worldviews rather than incompetent individuals. Thus, Shenon presents a hard-edged  new version of events, which includes shady involvement in the 9/11 plot by Saudi officials; serious conflicts of interest and efforts at spinning the report in favor of Rice and Bush on the part of the commission's executive director, Philip Zelikow; a failure to adequately examine the records of the National Security Agency; and serious failures at the FAA, NORAD, CIA and FBI.

The last paragraph of the author's acknowledgements gives a final, emphatic note of credit to the family members:

If anyone is responsible for this book, ultimately, it is the families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks. The families were responsible for the creation of the commission, over the fierce opposition of the Bush White House and many in Congress; the families fought to try to keep the investigation honest, against incredible odds. They did much of the digging that produced scoops for me and raised important issues abut the commission, its leadership and the conduct of the investigation. I cannot imagine their suffering. If the full truth is ever told about Sepember 11, 2001, it will be their doing. It has not been told yet.

It shows how important was the role of the family members, and this vital role is at the core of the story I will tell in No Truer Hearts.