metro
A Daughter's Reflections
Jordan Zaslow to pay tribute to her late father,
author Jeffrey Zaslow, at the Jewish Book Fair.
Robin Schwartz
Contributing Writer
Jordan Zaslow with her
late father, Jeffrey
H
e died tragically in a car crash
Feb. 10 on a snow-covered road
in northern Michigan, but so
much of Wall Street Journal writer and
best-selling author Jeffrey Zaslow's spirit
lives on through his books and his three
daughters, Jordan, 23, Alex, 21, and Eden,
17.
In different ways, each of the girls
inherited their father's wit, wisdom, com-
passion, creativity and so much more. His
eldest daughter, Jordan, will pay tribute
to her dad and speak on his behalf at the
upcoming Jewish Book Fair Sunday, Nov.
11, at 2 p.m., at the Jewish Community
Center in West Bloomfield. The tal-
ent agent's assistant will fly in from Los
Angeles for a special appearance where
she'll also promote Zaslow's last book, The
Magic Room (Gotham, $27; $16 paper-
back). He was headed home from a book
signing in Petoskey when he died.
"It feels really good because I know this
is what he'd be doing," Jordan says. "It feels
like I'm doing what he'd want me to do. I'm
promoting his book because he's not here to
do it, and it's helping me feel closer to him'.'
The Magic Room, named for a special
mirrored room where brides-to-be can
see their reflection from every angle, is
set at the 78-year-old Becker's Bridal shop
in Fowler, near Lansing. The book tells
the stories of eight brides and their often
emotional, sometimes painful journeys to
the altar.
Jeffrey Zaslow said his love for his chil-
dren inspired him to write it. "I guess I
wanted to stand in the Magic Room with
these families whose stories touched me
the most, and while there, contemplate my
feelings for my own daughters," he wrote
in his introduction.
Zaslow's thought-provoking storytelling
has inspired millions of readers. His other
books include The Last Lecture, based on
a talk by college professor Randy Pausch,
who was dying of pancreatic cancer; The
Girls from Ames, about 11 childhood
friends in Iowa; Highest Duty, a profile
of Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger, the US
Airways pilot who landed his crippled
plane on the Hudson River in New York;
and Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope,
about U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords who was
shot during an attack that killed six others.
"It's poignant that The Magic Room
8
November 1 • 2012
was the last book he ever
wrote," Jordan says. "We
never had any doubt how
much he loved us, but it's
a nice illustration of his
love for us. We never took
my dad for granted. We
always knew we had a spe-
cial, beautiful relationship
with him. We always took
the time to say it, too."
Lasting Memories
Eden, Alexandra, Jeffrey, Sherry and Jordan Zaslow on
vacation in Costa Rica.
Now, eight months into
the most painful chapter
in their own lives, the
scraps of paper.
girls and Zaslow's wife, Fox 2 news anchor
Jordan recently appeared on NBC's
Sherry Margolis, are hanging onto memo-
Today Show to promote the paperback
ries. They find comfort in the late author's
release of The Magic Room. She spoke
home office where his hand-scribbled
about something else that's close to her
notes are still there on a calendar and on
heart, the little lunchbox notes her father
wrote to her and her sisters. He often
signed them, "XXX – Dad" and tucked the
messages of encouragement and affection
in with whatever was for lunch that day in
brown paper bags.
"My little sister, Eden, has actually never
thrown a single note in the trash:' Jordan
wrote in a column for the Wall Street
Journal's online magazine Speakeasy. "I
keep my collection in a shoebox on the
floor of my closet, tucked between a laptop
case and the guest towels:' she continued.
"It's a compilation of messages like, 'Good
luck on your exam, I love you' inked across
a crumpled sliver of paper. We saved those
notes for all these years, unwittingly pre-
paring for a time when they would express
the words my father no longer could.
Particularly, the words, 'I love you:"
On Oct. 6, Jeffrey Zaslow would have
celebrated his 54th birthday. That day,
Jordan traveled to New Jersey to visit her
paternal grandparents while Sherry, Alex
and Eden went out to dinner together in
Michigan. They say they all lean on each
other for support.
"It's hard. We're doing the best we can.
My family, my mom especially, has been
amazing," Jordan says. "I feel very lucky
in a lot of ways to have my mom and my
sisters because we share great bonds. It's
hard to see our lives change so quickly and
so drastically, but I'm also very impressed
with the way my family is keeping their
heads up and still living a life my dad
would be proud of despite what we've been
through."
She adds that she still feels her father's
presence every day — in the notes he left
behind, the lessons he taught, the love he
shared and the countless lives he touched
across the world.
"I'm still hearing from people all the
time who read his books or the Wall Street
Journal," Jordan says. "Everyone's corn-
ing out of the woodwork who ever had
an experience with my dad or had their
lives impacted by him. I get messages on
Facebook, total strangers email me, and
every time it's still meaningful and uplift-
ing. It's just one more reminder of how he
really left a great mark and how he was a
very special person, very special to a lot of
people." ❑
A Tribute to Jeffrey Zaslow by Jordan Zaslow
at the Jewish Book Fair takes place 2 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 11, at the Jewish Community
Center in West Bloomfield.