PULSE AT HOME IN MIDDLETOWN NEW BOOK BY GAIL SHEEHY EXAMINES TRAUMA OF 9-11 LOSS, RECOVERY IN N.J. COMMUNITY.Byline: Mariko Thompson Staff Writer Author and Vanity Fair contributing editor A contributing editor is a magazine job title that varies in responsibilities. Most often, a contributing editor is a freelancer who has proven ability and readership draw. Gail Sheehy spent a year and a half in the New Jersey community of Middletown chronicling the devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. loss and recovery from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. After conducting more than 900 interviews, Sheehy wove wove v. Past tense of weave. wove Verb a past tense of weave wove, woven weave together the narratives of grieving families, survivors and witnesses in ``Middletown, America: One Town's Passage From Trauma to Hope'' (Random House; $25.95). She recently spoke to the Daily News about the Middletown journey. Q: Why did you choose to focus on Middletown, N.J.? A: I saw Middletown not only as the town that had the greatest concentrated death toll on 9-11 in the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of area, but as a microcosm of American suburban life. It's a big, sprawling, fragmented place where people didn't necessarily know their neighbors or feel a necessity for community, especially those who were well-off and commuted back and forth to Manhattan. So how are they going to deal with this devastation that (took) 50 people from them? They did stagger around for the first five or six months until they began to reinvent what community means and how you make it happen. Q: In your examination of the grieving process and post-traumatic stress disorder post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mental disorder that follows an occurrence of extreme psychological stress, such as that encountered in war or resulting from violence, childhood abuse, sexual abuse, or serious accident. , you turned to the 1995 Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (1990 pop. 444,719), state capital, and seat of Oklahoma co., central Okla., on the North Canadian River; inc. 1890. The state's largest city, it is an important livestock market, a wholesale, distribution, industrial, and financial center, and a farm terrorist bombing. What did you find? A: Traumatic grief Traumatic grief Grief resulting from the loss of a loved one in a traumatic situation (natural or transportation disaster, act of terrorism or mass murder, etc. is cumulative if it's not dealt with. People may not manifest the trauma for three to five years ... Law enforcement people take a long time to allow this to surface. Even more so the survivors or witnesses who either escaped or didn't go to work for some reason. Those are the last people who come forward. You hear all the time, ``I have no reason to complain. I couldn't possibly look for counseling. I didn't lose my life.'' Q: You also looked at various coping mechanisms and found that people who engaged in ``active coping'' fared better than those who did not. What is active coping? A: Active coping is ... making a commitment to taking some positive forward motion. In the case of Anna Egan (a 9-11 widow originally from Canada) ... she said, ``I've got to pull myself together and do something. I'll investigate becoming an American citizen.'' It gave her a goal. It got her out of the house and gave her something positive to occupy her mind. Q: You also found that denial has a role to play, at least in the early stages of traumatic grief. A: It was amusing and reassuring to find that out. The wisest therapist said that in the early stages of trauma, there is no good reason to revisit it or participate in the recent vogue for critical stress debriefing de·brief·ing n. 1. The act or process of debriefing or of being debriefed. 2. The information imparted during the process of being debriefed. Noun 1. . That sinks you back into the trauma when your mind hasn't been able to handle it in the first place. Denial or an antidepressant antidepressant, any of a wide range of drugs used to treat psychic depression. They are given to elevate mood, counter suicidal thoughts, and increase the effectiveness of psychotherapy. is probably a better bet for a while until you reach a point of some kind of hope. Then your mind can begin to take in aspects of the loss little by little. BOOMER BABES: Former first lady and current U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton launched her political career after turning 50. Forty-something Kim Cattrall continues to flaunt flaunt v. flaunt·ed, flaunt·ing, flaunts v.tr. 1. To exhibit ostentatiously or shamelessly: flaunts his knowledge. See Synonyms at show. 2. her considerable sex appeal on ``Sex and the City.'' These boomer babes are challenging how youth-oriented American society views women in middle age. Valley authors Nancy Alspaugh and Marilyn Kentz exhort other women of the baby-boom generation to do the same in ``Not Your Mother's Midlife: A Ten-Step Guide to Fearless Aging'' (Andrews McMeel; $22.95). Fans of the book may want to attend the duo's ``Boomer Babes Seminar'' on Oct. 11, from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Stella Adler Stella Adler (February 10, 1901 – December 21, 1992) was an American actress, and for decades was regarded as America's foremost acting teacher. Born in New York City, Adler was a member of the Jewish-American Adler acting dynasty, the daughter of Sara and Jacob P. Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . The event costs $39 prepaid, $45 at the door. Call (323) 960-7612 for reservations. BACK BASICS: Whether you're standing in line at the grocery store or watching TV, your back is always at work. About 80 percent of Americans experience back pain at some point in their lives. Poor posture is often the culprit. ``The Good Back Book,'' by Renita Fehrsen-Du Toit (Firefly; $19.95), will help you analyze your posture and areas of weakness. The book explains the anatomy of the spine, provides strengthening exercises and contains best practices for such daily activities as driving, sleeping and carrying children. STAY FLEXIBLE: Maybe yoga class is too New Agey for you. Or you want a stretching routine tailored to your sport, whether it's golf or swimming. ``Stretch Plan,'' by Chrissie Gallagher-Mundy (Firefly; $19.95), provides routines for every fitness level and a variety of sports. The eye-catching photo illustrations use bold colors in the background and are easy to follow. The book also contains sections on prenatal stretching, postnatal postnatal /post·na·tal/ (-na´t'l) occurring after birth, with reference to the newborn. post·na·tal adj. Of or occurring after birth, especially in the period immediately after birth. stretching and stretching with a partner. CAPTION(S): 5 photos Photo: (1) Gail Sheehy chose Middletown, N.J., as the focus of her new book because of the high 9-11 death toll and because she views it ``as a microcosm of American suburban life. It's a big, sprawling, fragmented place.'' (2) no caption (book: ``Middletown America'') (3) no caption (book: ``Not Your Mother's Midlife: A Ten-Step Guide to Fearless Aging'') (4) no caption (book: ``The Good Back Book'') (5) no caption (book: ``Stretch Plan'') |
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