American Mother Campaign
Etruscan Press is a small, non-profit book publisher housed at Wilkes University in Central Pennsylvania, and in the space of just 20 days has been able to raise over $15,000 for their Kickstarter campaign to publish American Mother.
American Mother is the first piece of non-fiction by the National Book Award-winning author, Colum McCann, and is written in collaboration with Diane Foley – the mother of murdered journalist James Foley. The narrative spins on several different axles, telling the story of James’ early life and the moral philosophy that guided him into his career as a conflict journalist in the Middle-East. It details the brutal loss of his life to a force bent entirely on destruction, and the rupturing grief that follows such a tragedy.
Ruminating on themes of morality, empathy, forgiveness, and US hostage policy, the book culminates in Diane Foley’s face-to-face confrontation with her son’s killer, seeking to understand the mind of the man who has robbed her of everything, and – if even possible – try to offer empathy.
American Mother is a story told by two voices, both author and mother intertwining together in search of some deeper way to understand not only the tragedy of life, but also the intensity of love that such tragedies can awaken in the human soul. American Mother is a vision of hope and empathy which can offer this divided, uncomprehending world the gift of healing through understanding.
AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE
This is such an important message, and despite already managing to reach $15,000, Etruscan Press has now set a stretch goal of $20,000, so that more funds can be directed to their outreach programs. This will allow them to provide study guides for school students, as well as donating copies of American Mother to underserved communities and prisons – making sure that even the most disadvantaged are given access to such empathy.
Please consider backing the campaign using the link below. Let’s try and raise $20,000 in the last week! Click HERE to see the campaign!
Blog Post Written by Alexander Horne