Jonathan Alter's blurb for Who Says I Can't

Jonathan Alter is a senior editor and columnist at "Newsweek" and a contributing correspondent for NBC News. He's also an author whose most recent book about FDR's early days in the White House is called "The Defining Moment."

Jonathan is also a cancer survivor which he wrote about in the cover story for Newsweek in April of 2007. His article began:

I took the call on my cell phone at the Starbucks in New York's Penn Station. It was from a doctor I barely knew telling me that a CT scan—ordered after three weeks of worsening stomach pain—showed a large mass in my abdomen, with what she said was "considerable lymph node involvement." I rubbed my eyes and sensed the truth instantly: cancer, and not one that had been detected early. I was 46 years old and had not spent a night in the hospital since I was born. Nonsmoker. No junk food beyond the occasional barbecue potato chips. Jogged a couple of times a week. I was not remotely ready for this.

You can read the rest of his great article here. I wrote a letter to the editor when that issue came out and along with 999 other letters, mine was forwarded to the author of the article. Jonathan wrote me back and said he wanted to do a piece about me on the Today Show. He did do that show after having done the PMC bike ride with me.

Jonathan and I have stayed in touch and he has been a big supporter of me finishing Who Says I Can't. At a low point of discouragement he said to me "just do what you always do...just persevere and you will get it published." Well its on its way now but along the way, Jonathan also read the final manuscript and agreed to write a blurb for the back cover. This is what he wrote:

Jothy Rosenberg is not a celebrity but an Everyman, which gives his wrenching story of astonishing grit its inspirational power. After being told when he was 19 that he had no chance of surviving the cancer that had already cost him one leg and one lung, Jothy made a decision. He would ski until he died. Instead he became one of the first beneficiaries of then-primitive chemotherapy, a champion one-legged, one-lunged skier, swimmer and cyclist, and an early model of how to triumph over cancer and disability. For anyone trying to turn a cancer diagnosis, major disability, or even a major life challenge into a character-building experience, this well-written book is indispensable.

You can be sure Jonathan is getting an autographed copy. Thank you Jon!