Sept. 11 burn survivor has book deal

[January 11, 2011]  NEW YORK (AP) -- A woman nearly burned to death by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks is ready to tell her story in a memoir, her publisher announced Monday.

Lauren Manning, who was a partner at Cantor Fitzgerald in the World Trade Center, has a deal for "Every Day, a Choice," which will come out in the fall, around the 10th anniversary of the attacks, publisher Henry Holt and Co. said.

The book "is the story of her incredible transformation, both mentally and physically, in the wake of such an unforeseen and drastic change" and "how the experience of life is so much more than the story of a single terrible day," according to the publisher.

Manning had just entered the lobby of the trade center when a fireball exploded from an elevator shaft, burning over 80 percent of her body.

"For years I've been privileged to receive words of thanks and encouragement from people all over the world, often simply asking how I'm doing," Manning said in a statement. "I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to share my story in the hope it will continue to resonate with people facing challenges in their own lives."

Manning's hospitalization was documented in a 2002 book by her husband, Greg Manning, called "Love, Greg & Lauren."

[Associated Press]

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