Beyond the Book: Background information when reading If I Am Missing or Dead

Beyond the Book

This article relates to If I Am Missing or Dead

If I Am Missing or Dead is Janine Latus's first book. She is a freelance writer, radio commentator, and regular speaker on domestic abuse issues. She has busked on the streets of Chicago to write about what it's like to sing for your supper. She has galloped the beaches of the Dominican Republic, eaten her way through Kansas City and danced herself into a frenzy, all to gather the kind of you-are-there details that make a story sing. She has coaxed women to tell her how much they weigh and why, and couples to admit how much they earn, how they spend their money and what they'd like to do differently. She has cried along with women as they described surviving mastectomies, and wept with their family members when they did not. She lives in Virginia.

Useful links: The If I Am Missing or Dead website with links to a number of resources, including The National Network to End Domestic Violence, and its Amy's Courage Fund (named after Janine's sister). The fund's aim is to provide up to $2,000 in financial aid to meet the immediate financial needs of women and children who have fled domestic violence.

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This "beyond the book article" relates to If I Am Missing or Dead. It originally ran in May 2007 and has been updated for the April 2008 paperback edition. Go to magazine.