h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Today is the memorial day for the World Trade Center attacks of 11 September 2001. I don't want to talk about them. We've all got our own experiences to mull over.

But people on Twitter, bless them, were urging everyone to read Tom Junod's article on 'The Falling Man' from last year in Esquire magazine. I did, and it made something pop in my head, so I thought I'd pass it on with a recommendation. Here's the link:

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a48031/the-falling-man-tom-junod/

It's beautifully written, thoughtful, and considerate. What made my head pop was the statement:

'...no one can jump into the arms of God.
Oh, no. You have to fall.'

Junod has a lot to say about why we take pictures, and why and what we write, and how to bear witness. He and the people he interviewed have important things to say about why we should never look away from the things that happen to others.

I think, on this day, that reading this article would be a mitzvah for those who died.

Alehem hasholem.

This is .. this is .. I don't know the word for it.

I'm shivering, but somehow gladly so, if you see what I mean, because I'm connecting, and feeling.

Thank you so much for sharing the article, and your thoughts.

for all affected.

GB

Thanks for sharing this, wow!

When he talks about there being no sense of panic just the calm of people actually doing their jobs in the office, that just hits the nail on the head for me. For many who are faced with atrocity, but have a job to do, that professional calm blocks out the horrors - at least til the jobs done.

God bless.

Just caught up with this, Dmitri.

I find it very difficult to read on a number of levels, mostly why the poor guy had to be positively identified, and the additional suffering that the investigation piled onto the relatives of the candidates as a result. Weren't the pictures enough?

I wrote about 9/11 for the Edited Guide, but it was a positive angle - the only one I could find.