Lisa R. Cohen has written an unqualified masterpiece. She tells the tale of Etan Patz — the face on the milk carton — with such heart and soul that you have no doubt this is a story she was destined to tell. For the Patz family. For readers of True Crime. But more importantly to remember a little boy lost so long ago. You don’t want to miss AFTER ETAN: THE MISSING CHILD CASE THAT HELD AMERICA CAPTIVE.

We checked in with Lisa earlier this month for little background on her interest in the case. This is what she told us:

In 1990, more than ten years after Etan’s disappearance, I was a fledgling producer at the ABC News newsmagazine, PrimeTime Live. Stuart GraBois, the New York federal prosecutor who’s one of the main characters in the book, had taken the unprecedented step of getting himself deputized to prosecute another child molestation case in Pennsylvania in order to go after his prime suspect in the Patz case. It was a fascinating look at an investigator who refused to give up until he got his man. And it was a triumphant story about one little boy in Pennsylvania, who had at first been failed by the system, but had ultimately seen his attacker answer for his crimes.

I was pulled in, and from then on followed the story avidly. I ended up producing two more segments on the case at 60 Minutes, as extraordinary new developments kept cropping up. Just when I thought nothing else could happen, there would be a new chapter, and I’d be proven wrong again.  Along the way, I came to know Etan’s father, Stan Patz, and I was taken by his grace and quiet heroism.

Over the years, I dug so deeply and gathered so much compelling material on the case, I  was always itching to tell the next installment. But ultimately, as in all television, where the reporting must be boiled down to fit into twelve-minute segments. I had to leave out 90% of the most interesting material. At a certain point, it began to feel that I couldn’t NOT write the book. You just can’t make this stuff up, I often found myself saying.

In my long television news career, I’ve always been drawn to unlikely heroes – ordinary people who face extraordinary challenges – to document how they respond. This story totally fits the bill.  Etan’s parents, the investigators who never gave up, all were an inspiration, and I wanted to pay homage.

If you’d like to learn more about Lisa and the book, please visit her web site. Don’t miss the photo page showing pictures of Etan. Such a loss.

Everyone has a case that haunts them…what’s yours?

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at 11:57 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.