Bill Tammeus and his family have borne a deep personal loss since the terrorists’ attacks of September 11, 2001. His nephew, a bond analyst for Hancock Financial Services, was aboard the first plane to slam into the World Trade Center in New York City. 

Nearly 20 years later, Tammeus, a former editorial page columnist for The Kansas City Star, recounts the impact of the tragedy on his extended family in a new book, Love, Loss and Endurance: A 9/11 Story of Resilience and Hope in an Age of Anxiety. One of the nation’s most respected religious writers, he also examines the religious extremism behind that attack and others since. And he offers ideas on how it can be countered. 

In a special online presentation launching the book, Tammeus discusses the lasting emotional toll of 9/11 and “what can and does happen when people come to believe that they know all the answers to the questions that religion and other disciplines pose.” 

Tammeus was a member of The Star’s staff for almost 36 years, sharing the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting and winning the 2005 Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council for the best religion column in the country. He also has authored a blog, Faith Matters, since 2004 and written for The Presbyterian Outlook, KCPT-TV’s Flatland, and The National Catholic Reporter. He is past president of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.