I wrote this sometime ago and was speaking to a friend over the holidays, who was also a victim of a similar brutal crime, and she spurred me to make this my first blog post ever. Welcome 2012!
Lara Logan: [in-spuh-rey-shun]
I don't know anyone who works for the CBS “60 Minutes” news show.
I have never met Lara Logan and I do not know her.
But having followed her career for almost a decade, I feel a sense of synergy that connects strong women like Lara Logan to others around the world.
Lara is a role model for my story. It's the inspiration and hope exuding from her that embodies my protagonist, US Marshall, Jill Oliver.
Why? Because over the years, Lara Logan has taken on the big guns. Literally! She has the strength and courage to go into war zones to find news stories and bring them into the hearts of her audience with such assertive calm. She is not just a journalist, but a woman journalist who has traveled all over the world — often considered a man's world. She has gone places where even most men would not dare go.
I watched the heart-wrenching interview with fellow CBS reporter Scott Pelley in May 2011 where Lara Logan articulated and shared her feelings about her traumatic experience in Cairo—a situation that went terribly wrong. I know that women are gang-raped, exploited, abused everyday, in a variety of scenarios. And yet, I could not absorb what happened to her. I write fiction. This is real life.
But even my fiction reflects current events and humanity—whatever it may be, from social terrorism to sex slavery. I can only hope to have the voice and impact that Lara Logan has. I think she said it best: “I want my work to define me [not the single event of sexual assault in Egypt]… I have so much more to give.” It's great to see her on the road back.
All I can say, Lara, is thank you for your inspiration—for me personally and for women around the world. And when Scott Pelley asked you if you will be going back to these dangerous places, you said: “I will be, oh, I will be.” And when you do, Lara, we will be with you in spirit, cheering you on.
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