Many of you might recall Jeffrey Zaslow as the guy who won a contest to replace retiring Chicago Sun-Times advice columnist Ann Landers.
His writing talents stretched far beyond that, however. His knack for using humor and empathy to write about life, love and loss led to a long stint as a Wall Street Journal writer and to best-selling nonfiction books. He twice has been named best columnist by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. His niche has always been getting familiar but reluctant people to tell their stories and putting them at ease while doing so.
Zaslow became internationally known for “The last Lecture,” the book he co-authored with Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon University computer-science professor who was given only months to live when diagnosed in 2007 with pancreatic cancer.
He later wrote “Highest Duty,” the story about airline Capt. Chesley Sullenberger and how he safely landed a damaged jetliner on the Hudson River in New York. last year, Zaslow worked with wounded Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, astronaut mark Kelly, on their memoir, “Gabby: A story of Courage and Hope.”
His latest book is “The Magic Room: A story About the Love we wish for our Daughters.” It’s set in a bridal shop in Fowler, Mich., where Zaslow looked at the tradition and emotion of American weddings.
Here is Zaslow’s Janesville connection. Skip Bliss, owner of Bliss Communications and The Gazette in Janesville, attended an Inland Press Association conference in Chicago last October, and Zaslow was the guest speaker.
“I thought he was wonderful,” Bliss said.
Zaslow mixed humor with tough subject matters and interspersed his talk with life lessons gleaned from talking to all these people—words of wisdom for living life. Zaslow, Bliss said, suggested we all have a higher calling and we don’t know where life’s roadmap will lead. Be sure to do the important things and never leave words unsaid to loved ones. His talk resonated with the crowd.
Weeks later, Bliss asked John Beckord, Forward Janesville’s president, if the organization had a speaker lined up for its annual meeting. Beckord had ideas but nothing concrete. Bliss suggested Zaslow, though he imagined the cost might be out of the organization’s reach. Bliss, however, figured he’d try calling Zaslow and that the approach of one newspaper man to another might work.
It did. To Bliss’ surprise, Zaslow said he’d come for little more than a plane ticket from his Detroit home and a meal.
“I felt great about it,” Bliss said. “He was the nicest guy. His talk was so uplifting, I thought that message can’t be bad for Janesville people—live life the right way, and good things could happen.”
When Bliss got back to the office last week from an extended weekend up north, awaiting him was a somber message from Beckord.
Zaslow died Friday, Feb. 10, when he lost control of his car on a snowy road in northern Michigan and collided with a semitrailer truck. He had been at a store promoting his latest book the day before.
“It floored me,” Bliss said of that news. “I just felt sick about it.”
Looking back on Zaslow’s life, Bliss imagines it’s a good thing Zaslow likely practiced what he preached—he wasn’t the type to leave anything unsaid to loved ones. Bliss figures it’s fortunate that Zaslow finished his latest book because it certainly contains messages more than relevant to his three mourning daughters.
Forward Janesville is in the process of finding a replacement speaker for its March 27 annual dinner.
Greg Peck can be reached at (608) 755-8278 or . Or follow him on Twitter or Facebook
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