Lisa Beamer
{{short description|American writer|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lisa Beamer
| birth_name = Lisa Brosious
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1969|4|10}}
| birth_place = Albany, New York, U.S.
| spouse = {{marriage|Todd Beamer|1994|2001|reason=died}}
| children = 3
| occupation = Writer, activist
| known_for =
| notable_works = Let's Roll!: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage
}}
Lisa Beamer (née Brosious; born April 10, 1969) is an American writer. The widow of Todd Beamer, a victim of the United Airlines Flight 93 crash as part of the September 11 attacks against the United States in 2001, she has become best known for her actions following the disaster.
She is a 1991 graduate of Wheaton College; she gave the 2011 commencement address at Wheaton.{{cite news|last=Meyer|first=Erin|title=Widow of 9/11 hero cheered at Wheaton College|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2011/05/07/widow-of-911-hero-cheered-at-wheaton-college/|access-date=23 June 2013|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=7 May 2011}}
Post-9/11 career
At the time of the attacks, Lisa Beamer was five months pregnant with her daughter, Morgan Kay, who was born on January 9, 2002. In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, the pregnant Beamer had a high profile, with more than 200 media appearances in six months.{{cite news|url=http://www.asjournal.org/62-2017/hero-widow-making-lisa-beamers-911-celebrity/|work=American Studies Journal 62 (2017)|title=Hero Widow': The Making of Lisa Beamer's 9/11 Celebrity.|date=March 14, 2020}} She was introduced by President George W. Bush at a commemoration ceremony. Shortly after the attacks, she set up the Todd M. Beamer Memorial Foundation, which was initially run by a family friend.{{cite news|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/columnists/20011104brian1104p2.asp|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|title='Let's roll' rallying cry sparks several Web sites|date=November 4, 2001}} The organization sought to trademark the phrase "Let's Roll," which was the subject of some criticism after some accused her of seeking to profit from her husband's death.{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/39038466 |title=Iconic 9/11 figures: Where are they now? - US news - 9/11: Nine Years Later |publisher=NBC News |access-date=May 21, 2013}}{{dead link|date=August 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite book |last1=Weber |first1=Cynthia |editor1-last=Constantinou |editor1-first=Costas M. |editor2-last=Richmond |editor2-first=Oliver P. |editor3-last=Watson |editor3-first=Alison |title=Cultures and Politics of Global Communication: Volume 34, Review of International Studies |date=2008 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521727112 |pages=141–143 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xpJ0_WQIbZoC&q=%22Lisa+Beamer%22&pg=PA143 |access-date=16 February 2019 |chapter=Popular visual language as global communication: the remediation of United Airlines Flight 93}}{{cite book |last1=Rall |first1=Ted |title=America Gone Wild: Cartoons by Ted Rall |date=2006 |publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing |isbn=9780740760457 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mpbJ5C3vSmoC&q=%22Lisa+Beamer%22&pg=PA16 |access-date=16 February 2019}}
In 2003, Beamer and co-author Ken Abraham wrote a book about Todd and her attempts to deal with her grief over his death, Let's Roll!: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage,{{cite book|last=Beamer|first=Lisa|author2=Ken Abraham |title=Let's Roll: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage|url=https://archive.org/details/letsrollordinary00beam|url-access=registration|publisher=Tyndale House Publishers|year=2003|isbn=0-8423-7418-3}} about Todd and Beamer's life before the crash and her life since. Royalties from the book were donated to the Todd M. Beamer Foundation, which was founded in 2001 by Beamer and others to help children who have suffered trauma. The organization was later renamed Heroic Choices. As of 2007, Heroic Choices was struggling to maintain financial viability. According to the Board Chair, "[as with any charity created after 9/11], the farther you get away from the event, the more difficult it is to raise funds."{{cite news|url=http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=169100006|title=On Shaky Financial Ground, Beamer Foundation Struggles to Remain Viable (reprint)|last=Hrywna|first=Mark|date=February 1, 2007|publisher=The Non-profit Times|access-date=2008-11-30|archive-date=2012-04-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406092140/http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=169100006|url-status=dead}}
References
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Category:Members of the Christian and Missionary Alliance
Category:Writers from Albany, New York
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)