a story of hope

We were on a close-of-business deadline for preparing the first grassroots state water plan when the first plane hit. This happened before smartphones and the hyperactive interwebs we have today, so I heard about it in the hallway as I was coordinating various aspects of my group’s responsibilities on the plan. I knew there had been a small plane that had hit the World Trade Center once before and shrugged it off. Word then crept through the offices that it had been a jumbo jet. The folks in computing had hooked up a television, so I walked down to see what looked like a Hollywood movie because it was so unbelievable. Some grumbled of terrorists, but I thought that was premature. After the second jet exploded into the second tower, it was clear what was going on.

Kevin Tuerff, author and narrator, notes in this book that folks of a certain age remember exactly where they were on 9-11, and that is undoubtedly true. Kevin’s experience was life-changing in that on a day that showed the worse of humanity, he experienced the best in Newfoundland. His story isn’t so much that he was stranded in Gander from a trip to Paris; instead, it's about how inspiring those rural Canadians were to him and some 6,000 other stranded plane people.

The Gander story arcs through the book, but the longer arc is Tuerff's relationship with religion as a gay man and how 9-11 and a town good souls brought him back to the folds of the altar cloth. After he finishes telling much of the Gander story, there's a long Moses-in-the-desert-for-forty-years passage about finding his purpose in life that, just when I was wondering where he was taking me, he pulls it all together nicely. There's a sense of wonder and awe at what happened in Gander and what has happened since with Pay It Forward 9-11, interviews, a Broadway play, and now a movie.

This book is a story of helping people and helping you to help people. It's a humanist response to terrorism as well as the temptation of soullessness--and the lack of humanity--that can permeate this modern world. It's a story that can re-ground you and give you hope.

-Robert Mace

4 people found this helpful

Inspirational

This book inspires me. Having met the author, I was thrilled when I saw he also narrates this book. The musical based on this story-and many like it-has inspired people who saw it on Broadway and beyond, and Tuerff's pay it forward initiative has inspired me in my own life, as it has inspired many people beyond his company where it started. The story of the Ganderites inspires us all to reach our fullest potential every day and to bring a little bit of Newfoundland wherever we go.

skip this book.

Our book club all read it, and each of us were very disappointed. It is really just about the author. Much better reads on 911, and the landing of all the planes.

Well done!

historical-figures, historical-places-events, history-and-culture, aviation, newfoundland, family, small-town, kindness, LGBT, nonfiction, early-21st-century, musical*****

On September 11, 2001 the town of Gander, Newfoundland showed the people from all over the world who were suddenly marooned in a place not of their choice that they had integrity and selflessness as well. Events in the US caused an emergency order for all planes in or headed to the US to land immediately. This meant that the town of Gander, Newfoundland pop. 9000 were suddenly hosting 67 planes and nearly 7000 stunned travelers for 5 days. This is the story of a select few and the development of a grand musical COME FROM AWAY that is even now on Broadway.
I loved that the audio is narrated by THE AUTHOR!

Interesting

This was a very interesting book, but it felt really brief. I feel like it could have had a lot more detail, though I did quite enjoy it.

Story of compassion

Welcoming strangers is a principle every human should abide with, Kevin story is a story of hope.
I encourage everyone to grab a copy.

Edafe Okporo

Not what I expected, but still great

Based on the title, I expected to only go on one journey with Kevin T. I was wrong, and usually that would bother me, but not this time. For the last couple of days, I've been listening to Channel of Peace during my commute. I've laughed and even teared up in places. This was a story less about 9/11 and more about the positive effects that day had on a man from Texas.

I have to admit that I'm not very comfortable with religion and this book has more than its fair share. I appreciate the way Kevin brings his faith into the book in explaining who he was and who he is now after everything he went through.

It's an excellent book and for anyone interested in paying it forward, a great guide on how to begin to do so.