Synopsis
In Heroes are Human: Lessons in Resilience, Courage and Wisdom from the COVID Front Lines, we read gripping first-hand accounts by those thrust into the depths of the crisis.
This book is a must-read for health care workers who have been besieged by the ongoing pandemic, for those who love them, and for any reader wanting to gain a deeper understanding of their immense sacrifices and struggles. Heroes are Human also offers invaluable self-care insights in the face of trauma. The book’s central voice and guide, Bob Delaney, is an internationally respected and experienced figure in the field of post-traumatic stress. His powerful message to front-line caregivers is that they are not alone.
Delaney, along with co-author and award-winning journalist Dave Scheiber, published Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob (Sterling Publishing, 978-1-4027-5442-2, Hardcover, 2008; 978-1-4027-6714-2, trade paper, 2009) and Surviving the Shadows: A Journey of Hope into Post-traumatic Stress (Sourcebooks, 978-1-4022-6355-2, 2011).
Covert is the true story of Delaney’s undercover life in a landmark 1970s Mafia investigation, dubbed “Project Alpha,” for which he risked his life wearing a wire as a young New Jersey State Trooper, taking on a new identity as a mob associate. He also writes about his overcoming PTSD through the sport of basketball, and career as an elite NBA referee.
Surviving the Shadows tells the stories of brave men and women whose lives were plunged into despair by post-traumatic stress but who learned to cope, with Delaney’s help, by sharing their struggles with others who underwent similar trauma.
For more than a quarter of a century, Delaney was a fixture as a referee on the hardwood courts of the National Basketball Association (NBA). But what Delaney did—and has done—off the courts defines his true legacy: It is his less visible, life-saving work of the last four decades, helping active members and veterans of the U.S. armed forces, law enforcement, fire fighters, and first responders—the often under-appreciated heroes who put their lives on the line for the rest of us every day—cope with the devastating effects of post-traumatic stress.
Delaney comes by his healing wisdom from hard-won experience. He learned about PTSD first-hand, developing the condition after emerging from his grueling and prolonged undercover work. Helping others suffering from the debilitating effects of post-traumatic has been a driving force in his life.
Former President Barack Obama and senior-ranking military leaders have honored Delaney for his contributions to PTSD awareness—stemming from his multiple visits with U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States.
In addition, Delaney was twice awarded the U.S. Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, presented by General Raymond T. Odierno (retired U.S. Army Chief of Staff) and Four-Star General (ret.) Robert W. Cone. In 2020, the NCAA bestowed its highest honor on him: the Theodore Roosevelt Award, previously given four U.S. presidents (Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan). More recently, Delaney has become deeply involved with the prestigious Harvard Global Mental Health initiative, which focuses on traumas and psychological burdens experienced throughout the world.
About the Author
Bob Delaney’s life story has been told in his two books – Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob (named one of USA Today’s Best Books of 2008) and Surviving the Shadows: A Journey of Hope into Post-Traumatic Stress – as well as on HBO Real Sports, ESPN, ABC Sports, CNN and numerous other TV, radio and press media outlets. His unique experiences will entertain and educate – from the landmark New Jersey State Police undercover operation infiltrating the Mafia to his days as an NBA referee running the courts to his insights into Leadership, Post-Traumatic Stress Management and Self Care. He is also the host of The Play – a docu-series directed by award-winning filmmaker Antonino D’Ambrosio – that explores issues of mind health, trauma, resiliency, and self-care, unified by the theme that not all wounds bleed. It has aired on NBA TV and Amazon.
Dave Scheiber is a national award-winning journalist and author. In addition to co-authoring Covert and Surviving the Shadows with Delaney, he has co-authored Position to Win: A Look at Baseball and Life from the Best Seat in the House (with Tampa Bay Rays baseball announcer Dewayne Staats), the Voice of Business: The Man Who Transformed the United States Chamber of Commerce (with Dr. Richard Lesher) and To Be Frank: Building the American Dream in Business and Life (with philanthropist Frank Morsani). He is a past first-place winner in the prestigious National Headliner Award, the Green Eyeshade Awards, and the Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest, and a member of a Tampa Bay Times investigative team nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Dave has authored stories appearing in publications from the Washington Post to Sports Illustrated to many more outlets.
Richard F. Mollica, MD, MAR, is Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Director of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT) at Massachusetts General Hospital. Since 1981, Dr. Mollica and HPRT have pioneered the medical and mental health care of survivors of mass violence and torture in the U.S. and abroad. Under his direction, the HPRT conducts clinical, training, policy, and research activities for populations affected by mass violence around the world. He is currently active in clinical work, research, and the development of a Global Mental Health curriculum, focusing on trauma and recovery. The Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery certificate program at HMS is the first of its kind in global mental health and post- conflict/disaster care. The program now has 1000 alumni working in over 85 countries. Dr. Mollica also co-founded with his Italian colleagues the Italian National Trauma Center (INTC). The INTC focuses on recovery in the central Italian earthquake zone (Norcia) and on care of COVID-19 survivors (Rome). Dr. Mollica has published over 160 scientific manuscripts. His first book was Healing Invisible Wounds: Paths to Hope and Recovery in a Violent World (2006), and his most recent book is A Manifesto: Healing a Violent World (2018).
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