In his new book "Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives," Pulitzer Prize-winning author and University of Colorado at 麻豆影院 teacher and scholar Jim Sheeler tells the story of five families and the Marine officer who must deliver the most difficult of messages to them: that their loved one has died serving his or her country.
"The curtains pull away. They come to the door. And they know. They always know," says Major Steve Beck in "Final Salute."
The book, which was released on May 1, will be available for signing by Sheeler at the 麻豆影院 Book Store, 1107 Pearl St., today following a reading at 7:30 p.m. Sheeler, who is on a national tour to promote the book, will head to Seattle, San Francisco, New York City and Washington, D.C.
Sheeler is a Scholar-in-Residence at CU-麻豆影院's School of Journalism and Mass Communication teaching advanced reporting and feature writing. According to Sheeler, teaching young people to write and to seek out stories is inspiring.
"Watching the stories come through the students' computers is like watching the world again through my son's eyes -- it's really inspiring," Sheeler said. "I learned more while I was teaching than I did in any class I was ever in -- you really do get so much more from the students."
The story that landed him the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing while a reporter for the Rocky Mountain News is the basis for "Final Salute." The genesis of the book, said Sheeler, began with the return of the first Colorado casualty from the war in Iraq, a Marine named Tommy Slocum. It also was one of his first assignments as a reporter at the Rocky Mountain News.
"While covering his (Slocum's) return I started to see things the Marines were doing that I didn't know were occurring," said Sheeler. "I saw Marines standing over the casket whenever it was accessible to the public; the Marines actually stationed themselves at the family's home, and at one point I said to his mother that I didn't realize the Marines did this and she said, 'There are a lot of things the Marines are doing that you don't know about.' So I made a point to find out what those things were."
The book also follows the trials and tribulations of Major Steve Beck, the Marine Casualty Assistance Calls Officer who is responsible for notifying family members when a service member has died. Sheeler said he met Major Beck at Fort Logan National Cemetery during the burials of two Marines who were both killed on Veterans Day in Fallujah.
"I told him so many people see the Marines as automatons -- people know the Marines from that blank recruiting-poster stare. But during the funerals I had attended I had come to see them differently -- poetic people who teared up while folding their friend's flag for the last time," said Sheeler. "I told Major Beck I wanted to get behind that stare and tell people what was going on behind those eyes."
Helping Sheeler tell the stories was photographer Todd Heisler, the Rocky Mountain News photographer who also won a Pulitzer Prize for "Final Salute," and whose photos are included in the book.
For more information, visit Sheeler's Web site at .