Project Rebirth: Survival and the Strength of the Human Spirit from 9/11 Survivors

Written in conjunction with the documentary Rebirth, a full decade in the making, an uplifting look at the lives of nine individuals whose lives were forever changed by the largest tragedy our nation has ever faced.

The images of the burning towers, the heartbroken friends building memorials, the minute-by-minute accounts of the horrors of that day-all are indelibly etched on our collective consciousness. But what of those left behind after 9/11? What have they, and we, learned from the gift of time?

In Project Rebirth, a psychologist and a journalist examine the lives of nine people who were directly affected by the events of September 11, 2001. Written concurrently with the filming of a forthcoming documentary, it is uniquely positioned to tackle the questions raised about how people react in the face of crippling grief, how you maintain hope for a future when your life as you knew it is destroyed, and the amazing ability of humans to focus on the positive aspects of day-to-day living in the face of tragedy.

The project follows people dedicated to rebuilding, both physically and emotionally. Spirituality, resilience, and hope are at the center of their stories. Brian, who lost his firefighter brother, spent two years working at Ground Zero and then helped to rebuild the PATH train station. Tanya, who lost her fiancée on 9/11, finds new love, new life, and joy as a mother in the years following, all doors she thought closed to her forever.

Not a book that recounts the events of that day, and not a book about grief, Project Rebirth is a book about resilience and finding inner peace.

Dr. Robin Stern is a psychoanalyst, educator, and author. She is one of the lead facilitators for the Inner Resilience Program, created post- September 11 to help educators build resilience and coping skills, and she lives in New York City.
Courtney E. Martin is an award-winning author and journalist. She lives in New York City.