Undaunted, which focuses on Jonestown and Congresswoman Speier’s personal and professional tragedies and triumphs and forceful advocacy for women’s rights, will be released November 2018, 40 years after the Jonestown massacre
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 23, 2018-- (NASDAQ:AMZN)— Little A, the literary fiction and nonfiction imprint of Amazon Publishing, announced today U.S. Congresswoman Jackie Speier’s forthcoming memoir Undaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back. The book was acquired by Little A editor Laura Van der Veer and will be released on November 6, 2018. Congresswoman Speier is represented by Emma Parry of Janklow & Nesbit Associates.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180823005171/en/
(Photo: Business Wire)
“I’ve faced personal and professional adversity that could have ended my career and even my life. Instead I made the decision to turn these tragedies into triumphs. My strength has always come from family, faith and friends,” said Congresswoman Speier.
In 1978, 28-year-old Jackie Speier was a Congressional legal advisor and was part of the fateful delegation to investigate cult leader Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple in Jonestown, Guyana. As the delegation was helping victims escape, Jackie was shot five times at point-blank range. Her harrowing recovery inspired her to trailblaze a path working in the public service, eventually winning her own Congressional seat in 2008. A passionate champion for women’s and children’s rights, Speier was the first member of Congress to advocate for reforms to end the epidemic of sexual assault in the military and on college campuses, earning her a spot on Newsweek’s list of 150 “Fearless Women” in the world. In November 2017, Congresswoman Speier co-authored the ME TOO Congress Act to overhaul how sexual harassment and assault are reported and mediated on Capitol Hill. Undaunted shares the personal struggles—as a widow, a mother, and an outspoken victim of gun violence—that have shaped Congresswoman Speier’s unwavering dedication to her constituents and to fighting waste, fraud, abuse and corruption.
Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords said of Undaunted, “Jackie Speier embodies courage in every sense of the word. No matter the challenges that lay before her, she has never stopped putting her country and her constituents first. Jackie’s story of survival, hard work, and public service will be an inspiration for all who read it.”
Congresswoman Speier will be featured in a new 2-part docu-series, “Jonestown: Terror in the Jungle,” to air November 17 and 18, 2018 on Sundance TV. The docu-series was executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson of Appian Way, Road to Jonestown author Jeff Guinn, and Stephen David of Stephen David Entertainment. Congresswoman Speier was also featured in a Dateline special and an upcoming ABC 2-hour special on Jonestown, which will air in September.
“With Little A, our mission is to publish books that drive conversations about our culture and the world we live in today,” said Mikyla Bruder, Publisher of Amazon Publishing. “We are seeing so much news about women entering politics for the first time in 2018. Congresswoman Jackie Speier’s incredible story offers the rare perspective of a female politician who’s been legislating for four decades. That the congresswoman is also a survivor of an internationally notorious civilian massacre makes her memoir that much more extraordinary.”
About Little A and Amazon Publishing
Little A is the literary fiction and nonfiction imprint of Amazon Publishing. Amazon Publishing is a leading publisher of trade fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books with a mission to empower outstanding storytellers and connect them with readers worldwide. The Amazon Publishing teams based in Seattle, New York, Grand Haven, Luxembourg, London, Paris, Madrid, Milan and Munich contribute to discovering and publishing emerging, bestselling and critically-acclaimed authors in digital, print and audio formats.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180823005171/en/
Source: Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon.com, Inc.
Media Hotline
Amazon-pr@amazon.com
www.amazon.com/pr