LaurieGarrett.com

DAY FORTY THREE:

Oct. 23:

OK, this is really going too far. It's not actually the White House, I understand, but it is the White House mail center. It's too close.

As the numbers of anthrax cases, deaths and spore-contaminated sites mount people are asking, "Do the authorities know what they are doing?"

Here in New York people seemed determined to focus on the Yankees, the sunshine, work - anything except anthrax. But it's not easy. Newsday's publisher sent around a note today informing us that the central mailroom for the newspaper was getting a radiation device to scan all of our mail. Two more security guards now staff the entrance to our Manhattan office.

Today my editor at Hyperion, Leigh Haber sent me an illustrative Email. To appreciate its significance you need to know that Hyperion is owned by the Disney Corporation, so its offices are inside of another Disney company, ABC. And ABC, as the world now knows, was a target for the anthrax-mailer(s). So, this afternoon Leigh wrote:

"...did you hear about the hullabaloo you caused? We received a letter addressed to you with no return address (though our mailroom is not supposed to be giving us such mail) and a German postmark. We called security and had to clear the area until HAZMAT came and determined there was nothing suspicious in the letter. Should we forward it on to you?

And that recalled a phone call the previous day from my friend Joe, at NPR. He wanted to know if I had sent him a letter from Brooklyn without putting a return address upon it. I told him that under current circumstances I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing. Oh great, he said, describing an oddly shaped envelope. When I called back half an hour later a HAZMAT team was in Joe's office. It was a harmless mailing from a publicity department.

For some flocks of New Yorkers these are matters of concern, but are no longer paramount. These odd birds are the Yankees fanatics, who pulled every string, every trick today in hopes of getting tickets to the World Series. They lined up in front of Yankee Stadium for hours, logged onto the Yankees web site, clogged ticket sellers offices and prayed for Game Four seats on the first base line. Sure, they said, the World Series would make a swell target for terrorists. But damnit, we're going, no matter what!

There was a surprisingly large turnout tonight, given current circumstances, at the Museum of Television and Radio, gathered to hear from a panel of the nation's top radio documentary producers. Their names might not be familiar to many, but their works have affected millions of public radio listeners nationwide. Davia Nelson and Nicki Silva, otherwise known as The Kitchen Sisters, announced that they are now collecting sounds associated with the World Trade Center and September 11, with the intention of producing a sort of audio archive and memorial. Nicki likened it to an audio version of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC. Among the material they have already amassed are the voice mail messages that were dialed to customers whose offices were in the World Trade Center: messages that were never collected.

The grieving process, then, enters another stage: solidifying the memory. And that is certainly a part of healing.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the nation, and public health providers all over America, continue to struggle, trying to cope with the deluge of anthrax hoaxes and worried well, and somehow get a step ahead of the terrorists.

See, for example:

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usscen212425376oct21.story

and

http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-usfund182420261oct18.story

and for Iraq connection see:

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usiraq232427747oct23.story?coll=ny%2Dtop%2Dheadlines

And for index of stories see:

http://www.newsday.com/search/ny_all.jsp?Query=Laurie+Garrett

Be well. Stay safe. Stand defiant.

Laurie Garrett



DAY FORTY THREE: Return to Index Oct. 23: OK, this is really going too far. It's not actually the White House, I understand, but it is the White House mail center. It's too close. As the numbers of anthrax cases, deaths and spore-contaminated sites mount people are asking, "Do the authorities know what they are doing?" Here in New York people seemed determined to focus on the Yankees, the sunshine, work - anything except anthrax. But it's not easy. Newsday's publisher sent around a note today informing us that the central mailroom for the newspaper was getting a radiation device to scan all of our mail. Two more security guards now staff the entrance to our Manhattan office. Today my editor at Hyperion, Leigh Haber sent me an illustrative Email. To appreciate its significance you need to know that Hyperion is owned by the Disney Corporation, so its offices are inside of another Disney company, ABC. And ABC, as the world now knows, was a target for the anthrax-mailer(s). So, this afternoon Leigh wrote: "...did you hear about the hullabaloo you caused? We received a letter addressed to you with no return address (though our mailroom is not supposed to be giving us such mail) and a German postmark. We called security and had to clear the area until HAZMAT came and determined there was nothing suspicious in the letter. Should we forward it on to you? And that recalled a phone call the previous day from my friend Joe, at NPR. He wanted to know if I had sent him a letter from Brooklyn without putting a return address upon it. I told him that under current circumstances I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing. Oh great, he said, describing an oddly shaped envelope. When I called back half an hour later a HAZMAT team was in Joe's office. It was a harmless mailing from a publicity department. For some flocks of New Yorkers these are matters of concern, but are no longer paramount. These odd birds are the Yankees fanatics, who pulled every string, every trick today in hopes of getting tickets to the World Series. They lined up in front of Yankee Stadium for hours, logged onto the Yankees web site, clogged ticket sellers offices and prayed for Game Four seats on the first base line. Sure, they said, the World Series would make a swell target for terrorists. But damnit, we're going, no matter what! There was a surprisingly large turnout tonight, given current circumstances, at the Museum of Television and Radio, gathered to hear from a panel of the nation's top radio documentary producers. Their names might not be familiar to many, but their works have affected millions of public radio listeners nationwide. Davia Nelson and Nicki Silva, otherwise known as The Kitchen Sisters, announced that they are now collecting sounds associated with the World Trade Center and September 11, with the intention of producing a sort of audio archive and memorial. Nicki likened it to an audio version of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC. Among the material they have already amassed are the voice mail messages that were dialed to customers whose offices were in the World Trade Center: messages that were never collected. The grieving process, then, enters another stage: solidifying the memory. And that is certainly a part of healing. Meanwhile, the leaders of the nation, and public health providers all over America, continue to struggle, trying to cope with the deluge of anthrax hoaxes and worried well, and somehow get a step ahead of the terrorists. See, for example: http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usscen212425376oct21.story and http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-usfund182420261oct18.story and for Iraq connection see: http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usiraq232427747oct23.story?coll=ny%2Dtop%2Dheadlines And for index of stories see: http://www.newsday.com/search/ny_all.jsp?Query=Laurie+Garrett Be well. Stay safe. Stand defiant. Laurie Garrett