Overview

"Ed Tracy was the perfect candidate for cancer. Intensely motivated and a tireless innovator, the non-stop pace led to high anxiety, erratic sleep patterns and a life-altering medical diagnosis unlike that of anybody else. Rule No.1: Nobody's cancer journey is the same. Growing impatient and irritable, he began to imagine an oncology ward on a Broadway stage with costumes and music and patients and hope. When he needed to check out of chemotherapy, he checked into imaginary rehearsals of a musical comedy. Along the way, he realized the treatments made his memories sharp. He began to periodically track his cancer journey and encouraged friends to get cancer screenings. Soon he was delving into his past-growing up in farm country, acting in college theatre and remembrances of inspirational friends and mentors. Each scene found its place in an act of the musical, and the result is ""Gorilla in the Room and Other Stories."" These wide-ranging, homespun stories, mixed with family drama and the humor of a skilled storyteller, will appeal to lovers of nature, theater fans, and military enthusiasts and honors the courageous patients, family members and service providers facing life-threatening challenges, aging and a future where they are themselves becoming mentors for the next generation."

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9781646633050

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Reviews

Ed Tracy tells a poignant and inspiring story about dealing with, and healing from, cancer. Extremely moving and insightful. A must-read for anyone dealing with adversity. -DIXIE DAVIS, Author of Endless Love and Second Chances Ed Tracy faced his cancer journey the same way he has approached life in general: straight-on and with a never-ending passion to determine what adventure comes next. He's made a million friends along the way and collected a billion stories to tell, in addition to accumulating some sage advice that the rest of us would do well to take. Gorilla in the Room is a great read from start to finish and reminds us that life is best lived one day at a time, with no assumption of tomorrow. -DAVE MOODY, Host of Sirius XM Speedway, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, @DGodfatherMoody Amazed at your story. As we say in West Virginia-YOU DONE IT GOOD! -HERSHEL WOODY WILLIAMS, World War II Medal of Honor Recipient, Iwo Jima A touchstone memoir. Japanese writer Haruki Murakami wrote, 'There are some things we can never assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away. They remain with us forever, like a touchstone.' Ed Tracy's Gorilla in the Room toggles among memories as diverse as chemotherapy sessions, fly-fishing in Labrador, writing a musical about Buster Keaton, involvement in theater arts in a New England college, and growing up on a family farm in Vermont. A parade of unique and memorable influencers in cameo roles cross Tracy's life stage, from William Colby and Robert Goulet to Werner Klemperer, Colonel Klink of Hogan's Heroes. Longtime mentors and the author's wife, Denise, make frequent and important appearances in these perceptive and moving recollections. It is as if we spent time with author Tracy on a back porch during a New England summer evening, experiencing a gifted storyteller recount, to use his own words, how 'the experiences all summed lead us to a wonderful memory.' This is a substantial compilation of memories artfully presented and well worth reading. -ROBERT C. PLUMB, Author of Your Brother in Arms: A Union Soldier's Odyssey and The Better Angels: Five Women Who Changed Civil War America Gorilla in the Room and Other Stories is a profound piece of prose by Ed Tracy. As a reader with family members in 'the Club, ' Ed's personal story particularly resonated with me and helped make sense of the challenges unique to each cancer patient's journey. Ed's beautifully written reflections on key players in his journey leap off the page-and into the reader's heart-as he evokes visceral responses through a series of captivating vignettes, each offering incredible poignancy and inspiring empathy, and connected by the common element of our shared, flawed, wonderful humanity. As Ed writes, 'Our challenge always is to keep people focused forward, learning and enjoying life, and taking a moment to thank those who show us so much love, even when they might not be in the room.' With this beautiful memoir, Ed has accomplished all that, and so much more. -KAYLA BOYE, Actor and Arts Administrator In his well-crafted memoir, Gorilla in the Room and Other Stories, Ed Tracy turns his challenging cancer crusade from an urban chemotherapy ward to the crystal blue waters of Umiakovik Lake into a fascinating series of adventures. Those of us who saw it all happening in real time can attest to the grit, fortitude and humor of a gifted storyteller who tells it like it is, right down to surviving Shakespeare's most famous stage direction: 'Exit, pursued by a bear.' -BARRY MEINERTH, Norwich University Class of 1968 Ed Tracy's memoir evokes a number of adjectives: illuminating, inspirational, and emotionally touching. The series of tales is reminiscent of Forrest Gump's fabled box of chocolates as a metaphor for life: you never know what you're going to get. These stories, like chocolates, are highly addictive. -PAUL STILLWELL, Historian and Author Ed Tracy's Gorilla in the Room and Other Stories reflects upon the personal validation of life when forced into focus by those of us in jeopardy of losing it. Ed's approach is unique in that it blends theatrical script with personal autobiographical missives. Acts revealing the common uncertainty realized by all 'the Club's' heterogeneous membership and chapters of autobiographical records bringing to fore the emotional fullness of life's endeavors. The depth of personal introspection of those faced with chemotherapy could only be told by Ed looking into his own soul's history. 'The long-term prognosis was simple and vague: three years, thumbs-up; five years, pop the champagne!' -YANK SHUGG, Norwich University Class of 1968 A must-read. Anecdotal recollections take you through a compelling lifetime journey of personal memories, as well as observations about personalities from Chicago luminaries through national theatrical figures and American heroes, all the narrative being interwoven with a theater script focusing on fighting cancer-the gorilla lurking in the background. -JOHN ZUKOWSKY, Chicago Author and Retired Museum Professional Unlike anything else you'll ever read: warm, funny, often profound, and above all, a celebration of life. -NEIL HANSON, Author of Unknown Soldiers The creativity and optimism Ed Tracy brought to his diagnosis underscores this most human story of one man and his journey. Gorilla in the Room will delight readers with a mix of theater dialogue, song titles, and stories that entertain and inform. Ed Tracy adeptly guides us through his personal reflection and physical suffering and the lessons to be learned from cancer. -ELIZABETH M. NORMAN PHD, RN, Author of We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Women Captured on Bataan by the Japanese I love it! . . . The organization into short, evocative chapters, is creative and unique. -H. R. MCMASTER, Author of Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World With the homespun warmth of A Prairie Home Companion and the fantastical framing of a Broadway musical, Gorilla in the Room and Other Stories is a remarkable chronicling of one man's resilience and determination when confronted with the diagnosis no one wants to hear. Weaving together a life's journey from farm to fame, a master storyteller and humanist reminds us all of why life is worth fighting for. -HENRY D. GODINEZ, Professor, Department of Theatre, Northwestern University Ed Tracy has created a beautiful artistic approach to his cancer journey. Through essays, letters, and a clever musical script, he takes the reader with him through several relationships and events that molded him and the challenges that cancer brought to his table. Sometimes it can be quite difficult to vocalize the hardship and lessons of illness and of facing your mortality. Theatre has always been a way of reaching the masses in a communal setting and leading them through sometimes joyous but possibly very difficult themes. These 'theatrical' moments in Gorilla in the Room do just that. In between lovely, honest essays about his life growing up in Vermont, some very special friendships, and the discovery of his illness, Mr. Tracy has written a musical script that reaches a hand out to the reader, saying, 'Come on this journey with me. Your attendance enriches my journey and hopefully yours as well.' The combination of all of these genres of storytelling swept me up and gave me a seat at the table. -HEIDI KETTENRING, Actor and Singer Ed Tracy offers a unique collection of recollections made vivid by a life changed by the presence of cancer. The metaphors abound, including the 'club' of those touched by cancer. The characters abound, including some individuals you probably know of yourself. The forms abound, including the first cancer musical you have ever encountered. There is an intensity to conversations, letters, and emails that were exchanged with the awareness that each might be the last. Whether you are in the club or not, Ed Tracy's special mode of storytelling will grip you. -GARY T. JOHNSON, President Emeritus, Chicago History Museum

Author Information

Ed Tracy is an award-winning broadcast veteran, writer, editor, and host of Conversations with Ed Tracy, a Chicago-based cultural series of thoughtful and engaging discussions with authors, performing artists and other arts-based leaders. Tracy was the founding executive director, and later president and CEO, of the Pritzker Military Library in Chicago that received the 2009 National Medal for Museum and Library Services and was recognized five times by the Webby Awards for outstanding programming, including Pritzker Military Presents and Medal of Honor with Ed Tracy. A recipient of a Chicago Midwest Regional Emmy Award and the Norwich University Board of Fellows Service Medallion, Tracy is a graduate of the University of Vermont with a bachelor of arts degree in theater and communications, and a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, the National Press Club, and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). Gorilla in the Room and Other Stories is his first book. Review platform: PicksInSix(R) Website: conversationswithedtracy.com Frank Sesno is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, educator and author whose broadcast career includes two decades at CNN as White House correspondent, anchor, Sunday talk show host, and Washington Bureau Chief. Sesno currently serves as the Director of Strategic Initiatives at the George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs and founder/director of Planet Forward. He is the author of Ask More: The Power of Questions to Open Doors, Uncover Solutions, and Spark Change. franksesno.com

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