Tuesday, December 7, 2010

The Great Zamperini

Laura Hillenbrand, author of the wonderful book Seabiscuit: An American Legend, has finally released a new book: Unbroken: a World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. I didn't know much about it, other than it was about a soldier whose plane crashed in the ocean and he survived several days at sea. Interesting? Sure. But it didn't sound that enticing. Strangely, it was Runner's World magazine that piqued my interest in this book. The latest issue profiles the book and Louie Zamperini, the soldier whose plane crashed into the Pacific, survived 47 days at sea, multiple shark attacks and two years in a Japanese slave labor camp. Before that, Louie was a runner and participated in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Louie is 93 today and still active. He can still run, just not far. What an amazing story. Be sure to put this one on hold-I did!

On another note, the Runner's World article also mentions Laura Hillenbrand's struggle with severe vertigo and chronic fatigue. Apparently it's incredibly disabling for her. She researched and wrote both of her books from home because she is not able to get out much. It took her seven years to write this latest story. Who knew?

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