by the Night Writer
Four years ago a friend, fellow writer and co-worker of mine was nearly killed in one of the most devastating highway accidents in the history of Connecticut. Mark Robinson suffered severe injuries in the 20-vehicle pile up created when a fully-loaded, poorly maintained and uninsured Mack dump truck crashed into a double-line of cars waiting at a traffic light at the bottom of a hill. And he was a lucky one. Many other people died in the crash and conflagration, leaving him with a sense of loss and guilt and wonder at why he had been spared.
Mark and I both write things for a large financial services company. Our work is valuable enough to our employer I suppose, but little of what we do is going to change anyone’s life. That’s about to change for Mark. About six months after the crash I was talking to Mark about some momentary crisis in our corporate world and the conversation eventually turned to the new perspective he had gained as a result of what he’d been through, and the connection – and even the sense of responsibility – he felt for those who had been there that day. The idea of writing a book was banging inside of him. As he healed from his injuries and the wound in his soul, Mark set out to document what happened to him on that fateful day and, most importantly, to tell about the lives of those who were killed and of the dozens of bystanders and emergency personnel who courageously risked their own lives and health to try and save their fellow men.
That book has now just been published. Entitled Smoke, Fire and Angels – Tragedy on Avon Mountain and the Life-Changing Aftermath. All the proceeds of the book are going to the families of those who didn’t survive that day, who are struggling on without them. I’ll speculate that just getting this out there is all the benefit Mark needs; the opportunity is there, however, to benefit many others. Please go to the link above, review the information there and consider buyng a book or twelve. More details are in this video.
Thanks.
