Welcome to my digital home. This is where you can learn about my professional life, my personal history, and my current project: a biography of Beverly Eckert. I also blog about writing in general, non-fiction, biography, journalism, and the nature of truth, beauty and life on this wonderful world. Read on!

Where I’ve been

As a child, like any other, I would pester my parents by asking “Why?” But I also spent hours enthralled by the world of words, losing myself in a tale about a boy drifting down the Mississippi, shivering to a poem about a raven, smiling over something as simple as a beagle who always flew his Sopwith doghouse to dogfight defeat. No wonder, then, that my inquisitiveness and love of words pulled me like a magnet to the fields of journalism and history. I loved to put down in words the things I saw and felt and discovered. I found great joy as well recording exceptional moments and telling stories through photography.

My life of writing and research and taking pictures has carried me to the markets of Damascus, the archives of England, and halls of power in Washington, D.C. By predilection I am a generalist, interested in just about anything that involves people or nature or both. But I have also specialized in certain areas, including the Middle East. Taste some of the flavors of my writing in the Journalism page. For some insights into my academic training and historical research, visit my Scholarship page.

Where I am

After September 11, 2001 I vowed to do something for my country. I was too old to enlist in the military (I checked), so I cast about for a suitable writing project. After meeting Beverly Eckert, who lost her husband that day, I decided that telling her story would be a good way to bring the reality of that day to a wide readership. After her husband, Sean Rooney, was killed in the collapse of Tower Two of the World Trade Center, Beverly Eckert became one of the most notable and effective activists among the 9/11 family members. Beverly and I began to collaborate on a book about her reform work, beginning in 2004. She suggested that “No Truer Hearts” would be a good title. It captured the reason she worked so hard to make the country safer: the love of her husband. The title also refers to the devotion of all the family member activists to the memory of their loved ones, and their dedication to improving their country. The final chapter of Beverly Eckert’s incredible story ended on February 12, 2009, in a fiery plane crash just outside Buffalo, New York. For more details about the project and Beverly Eckert’s exceptional life, visit my blog. Also, visit the No Truer Hearts page and a summary of her exceptional life.

Where I’m going

After I finish No Truer Hearts, I will work on other projects, including a novel, a cookbook, poetry, and a few surprises, including a collaboration on a memoir. I will also be available for outside writing, editing and research assignments.

Contact

anthonytoth@gmail.com