Reduced prices, specials offered on Joplin Tornado books from now through end of May

After the Joplin Tornado, as I was providing coverage for the Turner Report, I kept reading Facebook posts from those who had been in the tornado's path, telling harrowing stories of what had happened to them on May 22, 2011.

(Note: Those who want to skip the reading and get to the specials, you can find them at the bottom of this post in bold italic.)

At that point, I decided these stories needed to be collected in book form, but I wanted the book to not only be a collection of tornado stories, but also a source that could be used years from now when generations to come learn about the day that changed Joplin forever.

I called Carthage Press Managing Editor John Hacker who had worked for me while I was the editor of that newspaper, because I knew of his skills as a reporter and because we had talked earlier and I was aware he had been in Joplin shortly after the tornado and had taken photos.

That was the beginning of 5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado.

Some of the people whose Facebook posts I had read agreed to share their stories and once people found out what we were doing, we started receiving more stories.

Those stories, combined with reporting and essays that Hacker and I wrote, texts of the speeches delivered by Rev. Aaron Brown, Gov. Jay Nixon and President Obama at the memorial service one week after the tornado and the first National Weather Service report on the storm were included in the book.

In the days and weeks following the tornado, I began publishing the obituaries of those who had been killed that day or died later from injuries they suffered. I made sure those obituaries were included in the book.

5:41 was published in late August 2011, but turned out to be just the beginning. I was not looking to do another tornado book, but Hacker told me people kept telling him we had to tell the story of Joplin's remarkable recovery. Reluctantly, I agreed, but soon I was totally into the project.

Spirit of Hope: The Year After the Joplin Tornado included even more tornado stories people had shared that were turned in too late to be in the first book, texts of every major speech made during that year, including those given by Obama and Nixon at the Joplin High School graduation, Rush Limbaugh on the Fourth of July and key speeches from City Manager Mark Rohr and Joplin R-8 Superintendent C. J. Huff among others.

Hacker and I added some original reporting and essays and Hacker offered photographic coverage of nearly every major event between May 22, 2011 and the one-year anniversary.

I had finally agreed to do Spirit of Hope with the plan to use my share of the proceeds from the book to do yet another tornado-related project- a book written by the students of East Middle School, who lost their school (many of them lost their homes) and had to attend a warehouse school. As it turned out, there were not that many proceeds from Spirit of Hope, so I tried to prime the pump by taking a Google ad. When I determined after a few days the ad was not going to do me any good, I took steps to cancel it and thought I had. Unfortunately, I misread the instructions on what I was supposed to do and ended up owing Google more than $4,000.

By that time, it was too late to take back my promise that copies of the third book, Scars from the Tornado, which was about the East students, their tornado experiences and that first year in the warehouse school, would be provided free of charge to every student and staff member.

When the book was published in March 2013, I came up with a way to live up to the promise (though I am still trying to work down that initial debt). Free copies were provided to those whose writing was included in the book and everyone who wanted the book, whether they were students, staff members, people in the Joplin community, or anyone else could have a free e-book of Scars.

The fourth tornado book, Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud: Greed, Corruption and the Joplin Tornado, was the first investigative look into the tornado, focusing on how City of Joplin officials and Joplin R-8 School District leaders dealt with the storm and its aftermath.

While the focus was on people like Rohr, Huff, Mayor Mike Woolston, Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce President Rob O'Brian and Texas con artist David Wallace of Wallace Bajjali, the stories of those who began to fight the wrongs they saw occurring as a result of actions by those leaders, people like former Irving Elementary Principal Debbie Fort, Joplin City Council members Bill Scearce and Ben Rosenberg, businessman David Humphreys and East Middle School teacher Kim Frencken, are also included.

With the seventh anniversary of the Joplin Tornado coming next month, I want to offer people an opportunity to collect any or all of these books.

From now through the end of May, Always Buying Books and Changing Hands Book Shoppe in Joplin and Pat's Books in Carthage will offer the following specials:

-Single copy prices of the books are reduced to $15 for 5:41, Spirit of Hope, and Silver Lining in a Funnel Cloud. Scars from the Tornado costs $10.

-Anyone buying a copy of 5:41, Spirit of Hope, or Silver Lining for $15 will receive a free copy of Scars from the Tornado.

-Those who buy two of those three books, will receive Scars from the Tornado for free and can have their choice of either the other book or any of my non-tornado books for $5.