story326.xml

story326.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-03-28

I had no classes scheduled for September 11, so I stayed up all night studying and making notes for my next book. By the time I went to bed, the sun was up and people were going to work. About 1:00 PM I was awakened from a sound sleep by the telephone. The caller was a drinking buddy whose sense of humor often borders on the absurd. He also knows that I am nocturnal, so some calls are thinly disguised practical jokes. He told me that terrorists had knocked down both World Trade Center towers. I answered "yeah, right, couldn't you find a better excuse to wake me up?" He responded, "Jim, turn on the television and I'll call back in a half hour."

I asked which station. When he said "any," I began to realize that something was very wrong.