lauren manning
unmeasured strength
New York Times Bestseller
First Serial to Vogue
“Unmeasured Strength is a gripping tale of [Manning's] long fight back from a devastating injury that easily could have killed her… She has valuable lessons to impart about the personal challenges of overcoming physical and emotional adversity.” ― The Wall Street Journal
Among the millions of New Yorkers who left for work on the morning of September 11, 2001, Lauren Manning would become one of the most catastrophically injured survivors of the terrorist attacks that brought down the World Trade Center. In Unmeasured Strength, Lauren tells for the first time and in her own words, the inspiring, utterly riveting story of one woman's ferocious fight to re-claim her life and identity.
She was a Wall Street Partner, a beautiful wife and a joyous new mother of a young son, but the fires of 9/11 threatened to erase everything. Burned over 82% of her body and given almost no hope of survival, Lauren began a journey that would make her a living example of the uncompromising power of human will. Placed in a drug-induced coma for one and a half months, she awakened to extreme physical injury and the traumatic loss of hundreds of colleagues. But she drove herself through the milestones set for her recovery with steely determination, becoming a role model to people around the world whom she inspired to find renewed strength and motivation within themselves, and to discover new purpose in their lives.
Returning home more than half a year after leaving for work on 9/11, Lauren found that the road back was just beginning. There were years of arduous physical and occupational therapy and a relentless cycle of surgeries and rehabilitation. But she was determined to build a new life as full as the one she had known before.
Lauren was first introduced to a global audience by way of her husband's New York Times bestseller, Love, Greg & Lauren, by front page coverage in The New York Times, and through featured appearances on Oprah, The Today Show, and Larry King Live. Senator Hillary Clinton, now a friend and admirer, first wrote to Lauren that “You are brave and courageous and a hero to all of us.” Oprah Winfrey told Lauren, “You are a true American hero,” and said recently, after revisiting with Lauren as one of her most memorable guests, “Your essence defines what it means to be survivor.”
Lauren's fascinating story, told with insight and unflinching candor, renews our faith in ourselves, helping to place life's challenges in perspective and to define what is truly important.
Lauren Manning is a former managing director and partner at Cantor Fitzgerald. Her story of surviving the 9/11 attacks has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, NBC's Today show, and many other media outlets around the world; CNN recently chose her as one of the most intriguing newsmakers of the past twenty-five years. The recipient of many honors and awards, she lives in New York City with her husband, Greg, and their two sons, Tyler and Jagger.
Published by Henry Holt and Company in 2011.
Photo of Lauren Manning by Timothy Lee
More praise for Unmeasured Strength:
“Intense, humbling, Manning's story is, above all, amazing.” ― Parade
“With the steadfast love of her husband, Greg… and her own unwavering focus, Manning's inspiring memoir records an extraordinary path of resilience and willpower.” ― Vogue
“You are brave and courageous and a hero to all of us.” ― Hillary Rodham Clinton
“Your essence defines what it means to be survivor.” ― Oprah
“A very inspiring book.” ― Barbara Walters, The View
“I have found my new hero. Her name is Lauren Manning…Her determination is awe inspiring. She is the most remarkable woman I think I've ever met.” ― Katie Couric
“One of the most extraordinary books I've read in a long time. I recommend everyone to go and read this, because it's a tale of inspiration and courage.” ― Piers Morgan, CNN
“It's a powerful book … There are so many 9/11 remembrances and so many 9/11 stories as we commemorate, celebrate, this tenth anniversary, but this one is the one that everybody's talking about.” ― Tavis Smiley, PBS
“Unmeasured Strength is an extraordinary book. It is heartbreaking and shocking, compassionate and uplifting. It is a testament to determination and to love. Manning shows that life has things worth fighting for, if you have the clarity to see them and to fight unwaveringly until the end.”
― BookReporter.com
“[An] uplifting story of courage, love and compassion… With honesty and simplicity, Manning details her miraculous escapes first from the crippled North Tower; then from limb amputation; and then from death, which stalked her relentlessly for three months. … Ten years later, her life has returned to ‘normality' thanks to the unstinting love shown her by family, friends and strangers.” ― Kirkus Reviews
“Your message of hard work and faith would resonate in the day to day difficulties that we all face … Lauren, your grace and courage are an inspiration.”
― Marla Lerner Tanenbaum Principal Owner, Washington Nationals Chairperson, Washington Nationals Dream Foundation
“Unmeasured Strength is both an enduring story about the resilience of character and an ode to the human determination to defeat evil. Lauren Manning did what the mighty Greek Sisyphus could never do: push the boulder to the top of the hill and never let it roll down. She has written a brilliantly vivid, wholly empowering tour de force that makes the impossible seem possible; her inspiring example just may teach us how to reverse our fates.”
― Lucinda Franks, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, author of My Father's Secret War
“An extraordinary story of the spirit's triumph over pain and the body's will to stay in this world despite being literally burned alive in the fires of the Twin Towers…This is a message of hope that we can all be grateful to share.” ― Vartan Gregorian, President, Carnegie Corporation of New York