Recorder of Deeds - by Catherine Underhill Fitzpatrick (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

An unflinching account of a journalist who risks everything to report news of terrorism and heroism during one of the darkest days in America.

It's September, 2001, and Catherine Fitzpatrick is the fashion writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. One of the perks of her job is to cover Fashion Week in New York City. On the morning of September 11, she's deciding which celebrity-filled parties to attend and which runway shows to cover that day.

Then American Airlines Flight 11 with ninety-two souls on board slashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. All Catherine sees on television is a building on fire. She calls her editor. "There's a big fire in a tall building here. Think I should cover it?" The editor, watching the same television coverage, responds, "Go." Then louder, urgently, "Go! GO!"

With that emphatic directive, Catherine's life changes forever as she rushes toward danger to gather a minute-by-minute, eye-witness account of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The fallout from that day remains long after the dust and debris are cleared away. Catherine spends the next decade suffering from symptoms of PTSD as she faces the end of her journalism career, the care of aging parents, and siblings as strong-minded and independent as she is.

Recorder of Deeds is Catherine Fitzpatrick's remarkable account of terrorism and heroism, hope and despair, shame and redemption, PTSD and perseverance.

Review Quotes

"A powerful story about resilience and the importance of emotional connections when called upon to brave overwhelming stress." - George Faller, FDNY Lieutenant (ret.), Licensed Marital and Family Therapist, Author of Sacred Stress

"My colleague at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Catherine Fitzpatrick, is a gifted writer, reporter, and author with a descriptive writing style, and the ability to convey emotions, hers and others. I deeply appreciated our shared story-telling during the week of 9/11 in New York. We powered through the pain to bring out a world-changing story even as we dealt with the emotional trauma of those tragic days." - Richard Wood, Staff Photographer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, retired

"What is it like to stand near Ground Zero on 9/11, watching the Twin Towers dissolve into dust and debris even as you and your siblings survive the weight of multiple deaths, mental illness, drug addiction, and more? In Recorder of Deeds, an award-winning journalist answers that question in gut-wrenching yet ultimately uplifting detail. At a time when our world has 'razor-sharp edges, ' Fitzpatrick shows us that 'the heart is a wondrous thing.' " - Karla Linn Merrifield, Poet and Author, Psyche's Scroll, Athabaskan Fractal: Poems of the Far North

"Reading Recorder of Deeds is akin to taking a long walk through the highs and lows, the triumphs and losses that make up a life well lived. Here is a woman who faces a mirror of memories without a blink. To open her life to others, many of whom she will never meet, is an act of courage. Any and all who join her story will see reflections of their own lives. It is a comfort to know that none of us is alone during the struggles and joys of living." - Miles Goodwin, Contributing essayist, This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women

"Recorder of Deeds is a compelling page turner. Catherine is expert at capturing the sights, sounds and imagery of everything she describes, and the storytelling of her presence at the events of 9/11 is breathtaking. This memoir is clear evidence of Catherine's rich and full life." - Debra Valentina, Author of Beyond Chaos: Journey to Freedom and Joy