Lauren Grandcolas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lauren Grandcolas (August 31, 1963 – September 11, 2001) was one of the passengers on United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001 who made calls, providing information about the situation on the flight. She made the call to her husband, Jack, on a GTE airphone. He was still sleeping, and she left a message for him telling him of the "problem on the plane".

Contents

[edit] Biography

Lauren Grandcolas (née Catuzzi) was born on August 31, 1963 in Bloomington, Indiana.[1] She attended the University of Texas at Austin where she was a member of Alpha Delta Pi,[2] she met her husband Jack Grandcolas at the university.[1] Prior to working for Good Housekeeping, she worked for a law firm and for PricewaterhouseCoopers.[1]

Grandcolas was a marketing expert for Good Housekeeping. Grandcolas was also writing a book on self-help for women, covering finance and other topics.[3] At the time of her death, a publisher was interested in her book.[3] Three weeks prior to September 11, she left her job at Good Housekeeping in order to dedicate herself to the book.[4]

Her sisters have since worked together with the publisher, Chronicle Books, to get the book published.[5] The book, entitled You Can Do It!: The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls, was published on April 10, 2005.[6] The book provides a guide, modeled on the Girl Scouts' merit badge system,[7] covering skills, such as negotiations, and life goals, such as horseback riding, scuba diving, and completing a triathlon.[8][9] Book excerpts have appeared in Parade, Glamour, Shape, Good Housekeeping, and other magazines.[10] Lauren's sisters also appeared on Good Morning America on April 19, 2005, to discuss the book.[11] The proceeds from the sale of the book go to the Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas Foundation, which contributes funds to a college scholarship program,[12] and charitable organizations across the United States.[4]

Grandcolas was also involved with charitable organizations, including the United Way, March of Dimes, Project Open Hand, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Breast Cancer Awareness, and Glide Memorial.[1] Grandcolas was also a certified emergency medical technician.[13] Grandcolas was known to rollerblade through her neighborhood, and was generally well-admired.

[edit] September 11, 2001

Grandcolas had been attending her grandmother's funeral in Chatham, New Jersey, and was returning home to San Rafael, California.[3][14] She arrived early at the airport on September 11, 2001, allowing her to board this flight which was earlier than her originally scheduled flight, United Airlines Flight 91.[3] Lauren who was originally seated in seat #11D, called her husband, Jack, from towards the rear of the aircraft in row #23,[15] indicating that the hijackers herded the passengers to the back. Lauren left a message for her husband, who was still sleeping, telling him of the "problem on the plane".[16] Her last phone message to her husband was played in the Discovery Channel docudrama, The Flight That Fought Back.[17] At the time of her death, she was three-months pregnant with their first child.[17]

Grandcolas' father, Lawrence R. Catuzzi, served as co-chairman of the Flight 93 Memorial Task Force, from 2002 to 2005.[18][19]


[edit] Published works

  • You Can Do It!: The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls, 2005 Chronicle Books; Bk&Sticker ISBN 0-8118-4635-0 (Published posthumously through the efforts of her sisters, Vaughn Lohec and Dara Near)


[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Senator Barbara Boxer (September 9, 2002). House Document No. 107-285.
  2. ^ Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas Foundation: About Us. Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas Foundation. Retrieved on 2007-01-21.
  3. ^ a b c d Longman, Jere (2003). Among the Heroes. Harper Collins. 
  4. ^ a b "CNN LIVE, TRANSCRIPT: 051701CN.V85", CNN, May 17, 2005. 
  5. ^ Ward, Paula Reed. "Vaughn Lohec; Missing a Sister Killed on Flight 93", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 11, 2006. 
  6. ^ You Can Do It!: The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls (Paperback). Amazon.com.
  7. ^ Upshaw, Jennifer. "Book by Sept. 11 victim is going on tour", Marin Independent Journal, April 25, 2005. 
  8. ^ "Leisure reading", Deseret Morning News, June 3, 2005. 
  9. ^ Upshaw, Jennifer. "This way, her spirit lives on", Marin Independent Journal, February 5, 2005. 
  10. ^ Blyth, Myrna (April 21, 2005). You Can Do It! Women doing something different in media. National Review.
  11. ^ Kinsella, Bridget (April 11, 2005). Dream On. Publishers Weekly.
  12. ^ You Can Do It!. Ladies Home Journal. Retrieved on 2006-11-17.
  13. ^ "Sept. 11, Flight 93 Forever Changed Husband's Life", FOX News, September 11, 2006. 
  14. ^ "Passenger: Lauren Grandcolas", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 28, 2001.
  15. ^ Exhibit #P200018, United States v. Zacarias Moussaoui. United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia.
  16. ^ "Remembering The Victims: Lauren Grandcolas, Mornings with Paula Zahn", CNN, December 28, 2001. 
  17. ^ a b Toby, Mekeisha Madden. "9-11 special tells story of the struggle on Flight 93; Unsettling documentary imagines the jetliner's final journey over Pennsylvania", The Detroit News, September 10, 2005. 
  18. ^ Planning for the Flight 93 National Memorial. National Park Service (June 2004).
  19. ^ John Murtha (December 13, 2002). Co-Chairs Announced for Flight 93 National Memorial Task Force.

[edit] External links