Faith. Trust. Triumph.
“I trust Roselle with my life, every day. She trusts me to direct her. And today is no different, except the stakes are higher.” — Michael Hingson
First came the boom?the loud, deep, unapologetic bellow that seemed to erupt from the very core of the earth. Eerily, the majestic high-rise slowly leaned to the south. On the seventy-eighth floor of the World Trade Center’s … seventy-eighth floor of the World Trade Center’s north tower, no alarms sounded, and no one had information about what had happened at 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001?what should have been a normal workday for thousands of people. All that was known to the people inside was what they could see out the windows: smoke and fire and millions of pieces of burning paper and other debris falling through the air.
Blind since birth, Michael couldn’t see a thing, but he could hear the sounds of shattering glass, falling debris, and terrified people flooding around him and his guide dog, Roselle. However, Roselle sat calmly beside him. In that moment, Michael chose to trust Roselle’s judgment and not to panic. They are a team.
Thunder Dog allows you entry into the isolated, fume-filled chamber of stairwell B to experience survival through the eyes of a blind man and his beloved guide dog. Live each moment from the second a Boeing 767 hits the north tower, to the harrowing stairwell escape, to dodging death a second time as both towers fold into the earth.
It’s the 9/11 story that will forever change your spirit and your perspective. Thunder Dog illumiates Hingson’s lifelong determination to achieve parity in a sighted world, and how the rare trust between a man and his guide dog can inspire an unshakable faith in each one of us.
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I was amazed to read such a powerful book about a blind man who was raised to believe that he was. Normal and he could do anything he tried.
What a wonderful and inspirational story. I am so glad I found this audiobook available through my library or I may not have had the opportunity to read it. You will be blessed by both the story of Michael Hingson’s life growing up blind from birth. And then as you discover how he and his guide dog, Roselle, walked down 78 flights of steps with …
I enjoyed the book & would recommend, both for the gripping account of the author’s escape with his guide dog from the World Trade Center on 9/11, and for the portions of the book dealing with earlier experiences that shaped his ability to deal on his own terms with a world where most other people depend on sight. However, I felt that these two …
Fascinating
Opens your eyes to what it was really like coming down those stairs in one of the towers on 9/11.
One of the best non-fiction stories out there! Not only horrendous in itself, but a story of trust among man and animal, but trust in oneself and beliefs. Do NOT miss a really good read. You won’t forget it!
This was disappointing as I thought it had more about 9/11, mostly about being blind, which was interesting but not the book I thought I purchased.
I highly recommend this read. A true story of two amazing survivors of 9/11, a bli
nd man and his dog . I couldn’t put it down.
Fascinating insight into the coping abilities of the blind. Moving to here this first hand rendition of the fearful day. Michael’s humor refreshing with the intensity of the time
The courage and fortitude of both Roselle, her master, others there, and most especially the first responders is heart wrenching.
Everyone should read this book.
Inspirational!
If you lived through 9/11 and like dogs, this book is great. Heartwarming and very informative.
Love stories about dogs.
I learned alot about what being blind means. What an inspirational book about living.
Great incite into the horrible tower attack and the people trying to escape the destruction. I look at blindness completely different now!
This was the best book I have read in a long time!! It was fascinating from beginning to end. Reading how he learned to cope with blindness was incredible. How he survived being in one of the towers in the 9/11 attack would have been been miraculous for an able-bodied person but even more so for him. He had an amazing outlook on life which …
As someone who volunteers in the service dog industry, I found it extraordinarily easy to relate to so many of the characters in this book. All of the emotions were quite personal, but reminded me of the critical value of what we do. Heartwarming!
Wonderful story of a blind man and his wonderful guide dogs–and the one that took him (and others ) from one of the World Trade Center Buildings on 9/11/2001.
Highly recommend this …true story of a blind man and his guide dog during the 9-11 attacks in NYC.
Amazing, poignant story of the remarkable bond between a guide dog (a Golden Retriever named Roselle) and his master who escaped down 78 flights of stairs the day the World Trade Towers fell.
I was just expecting a heroic dog story and instead I got that and an entire education into the life of a blind person as well as the life of a service dog. The author does an exceptional job of gently educating the reader as to the way a blind individual adapts and navigates the world. He brought up things that I had never even stopped to think …