August 2008

Dear Editor/Producer:

Every minute of the day, someone in America gets knocked down by life. It's unfortunate but true: Every hour, 330 people are injured in car crashes; 171 people are victimized by violent crime; 160 people are diagnosed with cancer; and 80 families lose their homes to foreclosure. Given the inevitability of crisis, we all wonder: Who survives and who doesn't? Who bounces back and who collapses? Who keeps fighting and who surrenders? The fascinating answers to these questions are contained in the highly anticipated new book THE SURVIVORS CLUB: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life by Ben Sherwood, former executive producer of ABC's Good Morning America and bestselling author. Grand Central Publishing will release the book in January 2009. Tom Brokaw of NBC News hails THE SURVIVORS CLUB for giving voice to "what we all wonder: Do I have what it takes to survive? The riveting answers are all here." Dr. Mehmet Oz believes THE SURVIVORS CLUB captures "the wisdom of people who improbably survived the abyss of death." And Dr. Tim Johnson, medical editor of ABC News, says "For both my brain and my heart, THE SURVIVORS CLUB is a page-turner. And given the practical payoff, you probably shouldn't leave your bed without it!" In the tradition of Freakonomics and The Tipping Point, THE SURVIVORS CLUB reveals the hidden side of life and death, including:

► Why righties live longer than lefties.

► Why regular prayer can add as many as seven years to your life.

► Why birthdays and holidays may be hazardous to your health.

► Why some people really do have all the luck while others are more accident prone.

Ultimately, THE SURVIVORS CLUB explores: What does it really take to overcome life's unavoidable challenges? And what kind of survivor are you? The book combines astonishing true stories, fascinating scientific research, and the author's immersive experiences in the US military's most elite survival schools and the FAA's airplane crash evacuation course. In pursuit of the secrets of survival, Ben Sherwood even underwent genetic testing to find out if he possesses the so-called Resilience Gene. THE SURVIVORS CLUB also offers readers the opportunity to discover their own unique Survivor IQ. Each book comes with an access code to a powerful Internet-based test called the Survivor Profiler, developed exclusively for THE SURVIVORS CLUB by one of the country's top research firms. The test takes only 15 minutes and generates a customized report on your unique survivor personality and top strengths. Award-winning journalist Ben Sherwood served as executive producer of Good Morning America during the two most successful seasons in the show's 30 year history. A graduate of Harvard and Oxford, he is also the bestselling author of two novels: The Man Who Ate the 747 and The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud. Ben Sherwood and many of the survivors in the book are available for interviews. We hope you will consider THE SURVIVORS CLUB for review and/or feature attention.

Best wishes,

Jimmy Franco, Director of Publicity
jimmy.franco@hbgusa.com
212-364-1321

Elly Weisenberg, Senior Publicist
elly.weisenberg@hbgusa.com
212-364-1570