Eric Lindner – författare

As a part-time hospice volunteer, Eric Lindner provides companion care to dying strangers. They’re chatterboxes and recluses, religious and irreligious, battered by cancer, congestive heart failure, Alzheimer’s, old age. Some cling to life amazingly. Most pass as they expected.In telling his story, Lindner reveals the thoughts, fears, and lessons of those living the ends of their lives in the care of others, having exhausted their medical options or ceased treatment for their illnesses. In each chapter, Lindner not only reveals the lessons of lives explored in their final days, but zeroes in on how working for hospice can be incredibly fulfilling.As he’s not a doctor, nurse, or professional social worker, just a volunteer lending a hand, offering a respite for other care providers, his charges often reveal more, and in more detail, to him than they do to those with whom they spend the majority of their time. They impart what they feel are life lessons as they reflect on their own lives and the prospect of their last days.Lindner captures it all in his lively storytelling. Anyone who knows or loves someone working through end of life issues, living in hospice or other end of life facilities, or dealing with terminal or chronic illnesses, will find in these pages the wisdom of those who are working through their own end of life issues, tackling life’s big questions, and boiling them down into lessons for anyone as they age or face illness. And those who may feel compelled to volunteer to serve as companions will find motivation, inspiration, and encouragement. Rather than sink under the weight of depression, pity, or sorrow, Lindner celebrates the lives of those who choose to live even as they die.

In post-war America, when valor was judged by the hallowed yardstick of Iwo Jima and the Battle of the Bulge, “hero” wasn’t a word thrown around lightly. But in 1962 a civilian pilot measured up. John Murray’s selfless, stunning feats garnered global headlines, prime-time media appearances, and a formal letter of gratitude from an awe-struck President Kennedy. On a moonless September night in 1962, 900 miles from land, Flying Tiger flight 923 began to fall apart—at 21,000 feet. One by one its engines burst into flames. Most of its passengers were Special Forces, en route to West Berlin. Though highly trained and ready for anything the Soviets might throw their way, they were powerless over the North Atlantic. A crash was inevitable. Survival was Mission Impossible. Yet the scrappy pilot flouted protocol, rejected the recommended emergency procedure, “landed” his big plane in the middle of a raging sea—and evacuated all 76 on-board. Tragically, however, as the private charter wasn’t properly equipped for the harrowing hours adrift in bone-chilling water, 28 died before they could be rescued. Murray didn’t just save 48 people from near-certain death. His stunning feats—which remain unparalleled in the history of aviation—led to safety breakthroughs that have saved countless more lives. Billions still rely on them today. Humble and quick to disavow his historic role, John Murray was a pioneer who helped pave the way for modern-day heroes like Sully Sullenberger.Flying Tiger 923 is the story of that harrowing flight.