A book reviewer is supposed to attract the reader’s interest in learning the story by way of the book.
Most readers of The Chronicle will already know the basic story shared in Mindy Corporon’s tome, “Healing a Shattered Soul: My Faithful Journey of Courageous Kindness after the Trauma and Grief of Domestic Terrorism,” or are at least familiar with it.
A white supremacist murdered three people who he thought were Jewish on April 13, 2014, outside of two Jewish institutions in Overland Park. Two of those three people were Dr. William Lewis Corporon and his 14-year-old grandson Reat Griffin Underwood, who were murdered in the parking lot of the Jewish Community Campus. A short time later Terri LaManno was slain in the parking lot of Village Shalom.
That’s the story the public knows.
What we don’t know is how Mindy and her family managed to live “through the eye of a hurricane and land standing,” while keeping their faith. Mindy has captured all that and more in her memoir. The book is currently available for preorder through her website, mindycorporon.com. It will soon be available locally at Rainy Day Books as well as through online retailers including Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Walmart.
As Jews, we were painfully aware that two Christians and a Catholic were murdered by being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Mindy’s family found themselves at the Jewish Community Campus that day because Reat wanted to audition for KC SuperStar, the Jewish Community Center’s annual fundraiser and Kansas City’s premiere high school singing competition.
In the book, Mindy notes that she grew up in the Bible Belt in Oklahoma, not the “Torah Belt,” and she didn’t know much about Judaism or know many Jewish people growing up. That’s not the case today and readers will recognize several Jewish people quoted in the book including Rabbis Jonathan Rudnick and Arthur Nemitoff, and Jacob Schreiber, former executive director of The J.
I think it’s fair to say the Jewish community has adopted the Corporon family and works closely with the foundation that was created because of the events of that horrible day: the Faith Always Wins Foundation and its flagship event, SevenDays, Make a Ripple, Change the World. SevenDays provides opportunities for all people to increase kindness through knowledge, mindset and behavior.
There’s much to learn in this book about how Mindy copes as a mother, daughter, wife, sister and co-worker after such a senseless tragedy. In addition to learning how to live day by day without one of her sons and her father, Mindy also had to learn how to respond to other people’s reaction to the hate crime and the fact that Christians were killed instead of Jews.
“No one should have been murdered. My family and I hold true to this statement. There was no reason for anyone to lose their lives because of ‘an idiot with a gun,’ ” Mindy writes.
The book, much like the funeral director has said about the service for Dr. Corporon and Reat, is “uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time.” And as you can imagine, it’s not always easy to read about someone’s pain, especially if it’s someone you may know.
The largest focus of the book is Mindy’s faith. She writes, “When I speak publicly, people often ask, ‘How are you so strong?’ My answer is simple … faith. I truly believe heaven is all around me, mostly because I feel it. My father and Reat are with me, often all around me. I have no doubt. Their presence is tangible. Miraculously, this realization allows me to put one foot in front of the other each day.”
Mindy’s entire world changed in just a split second on that fateful day. Her life purpose changed from guiding people financially as co-founder of a wealth management firm to helping people find space to learn about their differences and discover commonalities. Now she spends her days focused on Workplace Healing, LLC; the Faith Always Wins Foundation; SevenDays Make a Ripple, Change the World and the “Real Grief—Real Healing with Mindy Corporon” podcast.
None of these entities existed in 2013. All were created “from the shattered pieces” of her soul, “blown up by hate on April 13, 2014.”
One of the book’s dedications is to “those hurting, sorrowful and filled with anguish.” Mindy writes “there is a healing path for you. Keep seeking the peace you deserve.” This book gives the reader a glance at the path Mindy continues to find the peace she deserves. I found the memoir to be interesting and insightful and I highly recommend it.
Barbara Bayer is the former editor of The Chronicle