Last week I wrote a blog announcing the PBS documentary “Together We Heal” – interviews of those affected by the January 8, 2011 mass shooting at the Safeway in NW Tucson. Click here for my earlier blog with background information on the PBS production team. The show is written, directed and produced by AZPM’s Emmy® Award winner Tom Kleespie.

Hearing the heart-wrenching interviews of the shooting victims and heroes who responded to help them get medical aid that morning was difficult for me, as I know Gabby and I knew Gabe. Here’s the blog I wrote about Gabe (and the other victims) the day after he died (click here) – “Farewell Gabe Zimmerman, Congresswoman Giffords’ aide”.

Most of us in the Tucson community knew someone directly affected by this tragedy, which made it even more painful and shocking to us.

And in this documentary there is a solemn photo of me at the UMC memorial, mourning as I re-light candles in memory of the six who died. (I’m wearing my British wool gillie hat which my husband gave me in Oxford, where we were married).

View the show tonight at 8 p.m., and remind others of the January 8 repeat showing at 6 p.m. MST.

Our prayers are still with those who were injured that day and are recovering, especially Congresswoman “Gabby” Giffords who was shot in the head and receiving rehab in Houston. And hopefully there may be a sense of some peace for those who lost the six innocent people by this senseless shooting.

May we never forget:

Christina-Taylor Green
Dorothy Morris
Judge John Roll
Phyllis Schneck
Dorwan Stoddard
Gabe Zimmerman

And may we all move on and heal from this tragic event.

Yesterday about 150 people attended the Gabe Zimmerman Davidson Canyon Trailhead Dedication. This lovely area is about 1/4 mile west of Cienega Creek on Marsh Station Rd. north of Exit 281 of I-10. Several speakers spoke eloquently about Gabe’s legacy of loving nature and hiking: Jennifer Cox from Congresswoman Giffords’ office, Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll (whose District 4 this portion of the Arizona Trail is located in), Supervisors Richard Elias and Ann Day, and lastly Emily Nottingham, Gabe’s mother. Supervisor Carroll said that we all need “places and people to help us recover” from 1/8/11, that Gabe was “irreplaceable like this trail, a shepherd to all of us”. Supervisor Elias said that there was “no fairness” in this shooting of 1/8/11, but that “justice reigns supreme” with this beautiful trail dedicated to Gabe.

Gabe’s mother Emily spoke of his love of the desert and his ability to form “connections.”
Gabe’s father Ross Zimmerman, his brother Ben, his stepmother, fiancee Kelly O’Brien, and other relatives were present at this dedication, as were heroes Daniel Hernandez Jr. and Patricia Maisch, who were at the Safeway that morning. The tiles at the gateway of the trail from photographs of Gabe were made by LD 28 House Rep./artist Steve Farley and his tile team who were present. A night blooming cereus was also planted at the trailhead. I encourage all of you to visit this spectacularly beautiful desert area & hike it in memory of Gabe Zimmerman, and the five others who died that day.

AZ Daily Star photos from this event (click here). Gloria Giffords, mom of the injured Congresswoman was also present.

“We Reflect, We Mend, We Mourn
Join us for Stories of Healing”

January 5th at 8 p.m. and again, January 8th at 6 p.m. on PBS-HD 6 (KUAT Channel 6)

Press release from Arizona Public Media:

Tucson, Ariz. – December 19, 2011 – We reflect, we mend, we mourn – January 8th, 2012 marks the one-year anniversary of the tragic shooting of nineteen people at a Congress on Your Corner event in Tucson. On Thursday, January 5th at 8 p.m. and again on Sunday, January 8th at 6 p.m.

Arizona Public Media presents a one-hour special documentary, Together We Heal, a moving and thought-provoking program focusing on emotional healing, both individual and community-wide, over the past year. For many, grieving and healing have become on-going and consequential parts of their lives. Narrated by national correspondent, Savannah Guthrie, Together We Heal features 36 in-depth interviews with victims and their families, members of Congresswoman Giffords’ staff, and the doctors and nurses who treated them.

Together We Heal interviewees include John Green, Christina-Taylor Green’s father; Ross Zimmerman, Gabe Zimmerman’s father; Gabrielle Giffords’ staff members Ron Barber, Pam Simon, former staff member C. J. Karamargin and others; good Samaritans; staff members from the UAMC Trauma Center, Intensive Care Unit and UAMC Surgeons; and therapist Maggie Morton.

Together We Heal is all about the healing that has taken place from the perspective of individuals immediately impacted by the events of January 8th, 2011. As our community continues to heal, we would like to hear your story. We invite you to share your stories and remembrances. Go to www.azpm.org.

Together We Heal is written, directed and produced by AZPM’s Emmy® Award winner Tom Kleespie.

Credits:
Producer/Director/Writer: Tom Kleespie
Contributing Producers: Michael Chihak, Peter Michaels
Director of Photography: Martín Rubio
Narrator: Savannah Guthrie

About Tom Kleespie
Tom Kleespie is Senior Producer, Special Projects at Arizona Public Media. He’s traveled the deserts of the world for 19 seasons for his work on The Desert Speaks, airing on over 300 PBS stations nationally and the winner of multiple regional and national awards, including 24 Rocky Mountain Emmy® Awards. Kleespie also produced Unforgettable: The Korean War, Phoenix Mars Mission: Ashes to Ice and the follow-up program, Phoenix Mars Mission: Onto to Ice, Southwestern Gems: Our Desert National Parks and the Tucson Remembers series which included Tucson Remembers: The War Years, Tucson Remembers: The Battle for Europe, and Tucson Remembers: War in the Pacific and A Show of Courage.
Kleespie, a Tucson native, joined KUAT-TV 35 years ago as a member of the student production crew. Four years later, he became a full-time studio supervisor. He also did a four-year stint directing Arizona Illustrated, was a KUAT membership pledge producer, and worked for two years producing and directing for South Dakota Public Television.

About Savannah Guthrie
Savannah Guthrie is a native of Tucson, Arizona, and graduated from Amphitheater High School.
Guthrie received her undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Arizona and was a student intern at AZPM. She received her Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center. Before joining Court TV (now truTV), Guthrie worked at NBC affiliates WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. as a reporter, KVOA-TV in Tucson, Arizona as a reporter/anchor, and at KMIZ-TV in Columbia, MO. Guthrie was named White House correspondent for NBC News. After substituting for both Meredith Vieira and Ann Curry on NBC’s Today, Guthrie became co-host of NBC’s Today alongside Natalie Morales and Al Roker, as well as NBC News Chief Legal Analyst. Guthrie was the commencement speaker for the University of Arizona’s 2011 graduation ceremony.

About AZPM
Arizona Public Media (AZPM) is a member-supported non-profit media organization based at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and is the trusted source of information that promotes thoughtful conversation and community collaboration. The organization offers six channels of television content, three channels of radio content, a robust lineup of online offerings, and community and educational outreach to residents in Southern Arizona and beyond. AZPM produces award-winning original television, radio and online content from its digital studios on the campus of the University of Arizona and is provided as a community service and educational resource. More information about AZPM, including program schedules and Video-on-Demand offerings, can be found online at www.azpm.org.

Media Contact: Sue DeBenedette, Marketing Manager
Tel: 520-621-5222 Mobile: 520-247-5883
sdebenedette@azpm.org
Follow us on: Twitter: @azpmnews
Facebook: facebook.com/azpublicmedia

Watch a short one minute, 39 seconds AZPM preview of this documentary here.

Carolyn’s note: I was fortunate enough to view a preview copy of this documentary, which is incredibly moving to hear the horror story related by those who were there at the Safeway on 1/8/11, esp. Dr. David Bowman and his nurse wife Nancy Bowman, who both aided the bleeding victims. Roger Salzgeber, one of the two men who tackled Loughner down says that “death just passed right over us” (as he and his wife Faith were standing in that line to speak with Congresswoman Giffords). The show highlights the physical & emotional healing after the shooting, with touching scenes of the memorials and interviews of the UMC Trauma staff. I’m even shown wearing my British Gillie hat at the UMC memorial, where I spent many days re-lighting candles and praying for the victims. I’ve known Gabby for years and also worked with Gabe Zimmerman, and had just met Pam Simon a month before this event. But time does heal wounds and our Tucson community has been changed forever by this mass shooting.

Watching this heart-felt documentary will indeed help us all reflect, mourn, mend, as the anniversary of 1/8/11 approaches. Together we can heal.