jimsheeler.com
Most of the people in this book will die before the fifth paragraph. You probably haven't heard of any of them. That doesn't mean it s a book about nobodies. That doesn't mean it s a book about death. The obituaries collected here are at times humorous and at times heartbreaking. They shine a light into forgotten places and forgotten lives. Inside are countless lessons of life, taught by people we all pass on the street every day.
It’s not too late to meet them.
profile
Jim Sheeler is a “scholar in residence” at the University of Colorado and freelance reporter. He won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing while reporting for the Rocky Mountain News. Sheeler is the author of “Final Salute” (The Penguin Press) and “Obit” (Penguin Group). He previously contributed to “Best Newspaper Writing 2006-2007” (CQ Press), and “Life on the Death Beat,” (Marion Press). Sheeler has won numerous national writing awards and served as a featured guest speaker for military and journalism organizations. He has a B.A. in journalism from Colorado State University and an M.A. in journalism from the University of Colorado.
photo by Ellen Jaskol
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2008
MEDIA AND APPPEARANCES
Click on MULTIMEDIA LINKS to listen to interviews with Jim Sheeler and the families of Final Salute.
“The curtains pull away. They come to the door. And they know. They always know.”
— Major Steve Beck.
Since the start of the war in Iraq, service members from all branches of the military have found themselves thrown into a mission they never trained for, a mission without weapons.
Casualty notification.
In Final Salute, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Jim Sheeler takes us into the mind of a casualty notification officer who embarks on the most important mission of his life, and the page-turning journey of the families he and his comrades touch along the way.
ON SALE NOW AT YOUR FAVORITE BOOKSTORE OR ON-LINE BOOKSELLER
ON SALE NOW AT YOUR FAVORITE BOOKSTORE OR ON-LINE BOOKSELLER
"Final Salute is an act of national service. Like no other book I've seen, it captures the human costs of going to war. Combat's pride and pain are here, along with the tragic truth that some give all, while most give none. This is a beautiful book that deserves, demands, to be read."
-Nathaniel Fick, author of “One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer”
After the knock on the door, the story has only begun
"Jim Sheeler has taken what has been a very personal journey for all the families of the fallen and opened the eyes of the world to the tears and sacrifice we have made and the respect and honor paid to our sons...I could not have been more proud of him if he were my own son."
-Terry Cooper, mother of LCPL Thomas Slocum, the first Coloradan killed in Iraq
"Final Salute ... is not pro or anti war, but instead a gripping account of combat's price on the families of the fallen.
