On Happy Endings... the mine rescue

Foreman Florencio Avalos, 31, was the first of the miners to ride up the shaft. Wearing sunglasses to protect his eyes from aboveground lights, Avalos squeezed into a specially fitted, bullet-shaped capsule only a shade smaller than the 28-inch diameter of the tunnel and was winched to the surface over 14 agonizing minutes. -- LA TIMES

HALLIE: As I was reading the exhilarating story about the Chilean miners rescue, I was reminded of how few big news stories there are with truly happy endings. Seeing that first guy who came up, hugging his weeping 7-year-old son--doesn't get much better than that. "Trapped in a mine" rarely ends with a successful rescue, never mind 2 months later. Happy endings are usually reserved for our novels.

I tried to remember events in the past that have captured us like that? Remember Baby Jessica who was 18 months old when she fell into an 8-inch pipe and was stuck there for more than 2 days? Radio and TV were riveted as rescuers drilled in sideways to free her and she sang Humpty Dumpty to herself. The banner headline on papers across America: "BABY JESSICA RESCUED."

Or when Elizabeth Smart was found and returned to her family 9 months after she'd been abducted from her bedroom.
What are some of the happy endings you remember?

ROBERTA: Oh my gosh, I LOVE this miner story. Because I've been trying to picture myself trapped down in that black, dusty, hot space for all those days and hoping I'd rise to the occasion. But really not at all sure I'd do as well as those guys. I watched the video Tuesday morning of the first man to surface in that little capsule--amazing! (And just by the way, riding in that little tube would do me in, though I suppose you'd put up with anything at this point when you are deliriously happy to get out!) And I'm so curious about what kinds of long-term psychological effects this will have on them. A lot we'll probably never know.

ROSEMARY: I had just landed at JFK when I saw everyone riveted to the television monitors. It would be three hours before the first man came out but I had to stay up to watch. The second man - Mario Sepulveda - was amazing. He was high fiving the president and handing out rocks. Ye gods,what a great story. BTW, did Larry King really say "I was on Sepulveda Avenue just today"?

I can't say it's not without some negatives, but the Utah hiker who had to cut his own arm off, but survived was one happy ending. And I remember being transfixed by the story of the Uruguayan rugby team that survived the plane crash in the Andes. The survivors just celebrated an anniversary. Wow...they are few and far between aren't they?

RHYS: I have found myself quite weepy over this and I saw that all the hardened media types were teary-eyed too. My favorite happy ending was Apollo 13. I remember watching it live on TV and literally holding my breath for the one and a half minutes that they were out of contact before that capsule appeared in the sky. Years later I saw the movie, and even though I knew it was going to end happily, I still held my breath!

ROSEMARY: Apollo 13...I've seen the movie 8 times and I still get excited when they hear Hanks/Lovell's scratchy voice.

HANK: Oh, of course, Apollo 13. And how about the moon landing? Has there ever been such an amazing event? I still get teary. Yeah, the miners. All those guys, the drillers, being so proud of themselves. And the trapped miners not turning into Lord of the Flies, but all wanting to let their pals go out before them. Two empire state buildings down. Pretty amazing.

HALLIE: News this morning - they're all out!

What happy endings that have stuck with you over the years?

Dangerous rescues: Lily Prellezo and "Seagull One: The Amazing and True Story of Brothers to the Rescue"

HALLIE: When I met Lily Prellezo at the Miami Dade Writers Conference, she told the class that she had a story entrusted to her that she had to write. It was the about “Brothers to the Rescue,” a humanitarian group of courageous men and women who risk their lives to pluck men, women, and children from certain death, fleeing Castro’s Cuba on makeshift rafts.

Lily’s just published book, Seagull One: The Amazing True Story of Brothers to the Rescue, is also a thriller -- one that really happened. Lily tells how two spies, one who was a double agent working for the FBI infiltrated the group and collaborated with the Castro government in planning the shoot down over international waters of two unarmed Cessnas in 1996.

Welcome to Jungle Red, Lily! Please, tell us about your collaborator José Basulto who entrusted you with his story.



LILY: José Basulto is a patriot, a family man, and a dreamer. He's larger than life, and yet, he's a gentle grandfather, a devoted husband, and he loves to hang out with his friends. He fought in the Bay of Pigs, worked for the CIA, bombed a hotel full of Russians (no one died), enlisted in the US Army, helped the Nicaraguan contras building field hospitals for the mutilated men, and then converted to the teachings of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Then, at age 50, he started Brothers to the Rescue (BTTR).

I had never met him until four years ago when mutual friends, René and Marta Guerra, approached me and declared: "You are going to write the story of Brothers to the Rescue!" We were at the Sony Ericcson Tennis Tournament here in Miami and after two glasses of wine, I said, "SURE!"

I met him, we hit it off, and we started going through a warehouse full of information on BTTR.



HALLIE: I remember reading some pages of your manuscript and being so captivated. One of your challenges was writing such a vast cast of characters--you interviewed hundreds. How did you manage it?



LILY: First I created a timeline with the significant events of BTTR's history and literally taped it up on the walls of the A+ Mini Storage warehouse where we worked every day. It went around the three walls.

Then as I interviewed, I would tape up that person's story under the correct chronological date. It was like a puzzle, not done in order, and not even doing the borders first, put just putting the right piece in the right place.



HALLIE: I remember seeing, on exhibit near Key West, one of the boats that had been used to flee Cuba, and realizing for the first time what a treacherous journey it was, and how desperate and courageous one would have had to be to risk it. Did you talk to any of the survivors who had been helped by the Brothers?



LILY: Boat is a big word for what some of these rafters, these balseros, came on. That's where they got that moniker, rafter, because they came on truck tire inner tubes and such.

Yes, I interviewed several of them and tried to recreate their journeys as best I could in the book. Several of them were here at my launch party and they were reunited with the pilots who saved them. It was the most moving evening of my life. It felt like I opened my copy of Seagull One, and all the characters jumped out and were walking around my home.



HALLIE: And how did you uncover the group’s infiltration and the murders?



LILY: Well, I read what investigative reporters and the FBI and the spy trial attorneys had uncovered. I interviewed one of the spy's ex-wife, Ana Margarita Martinez, who was married to Juan Pablo Roque, the spy who got away. René Gonzalez is still in jail at Marianna State, and we exchanged letters, but he never really answered my questions, but rather, sent a bunch of propaganda.


The murders were also very well documented, but the most arresting testimonials came from the survivors who were on Basulto's plane. Also, the four families of the murdered men took the time to speak with me, also.


HALLIE: Did you ever feel that the work you were doing put you in any danger yourself?



LILY: No, although I've been warned about that! But some other people may have felt in danger, in particular the Havana Air Traffic Controllers that I interviewed. Their story was the most gripping. Some would not allow that I use their name because they still have family in Cuba.

A group of eight controllers, who were supposed to work the day of the shoot down, and at the last minute were told not to come to work on February 24, 1996, because another team would replace them. That other team was manipulated during the events of the shoot down. But when the original team of controllers came back, they endured six months of de-programming on the events of that day--and then were all fired! And when you're fired from a government job in Cuba, you are fired for life--you can never work again. It took some of them eight years to be able to leave and come to the U.S.



HALLIE: Tell us what you’re up to now? Book promotion? Working on a new project? And where can our readers find you talking about this amazing story? 



LILY: I am busy, busy, busy promoting my book. I've been on TV, radio, newspapers, and my first book presentation was Thursday, October 7. Over 100 people attended and the radio, newspaper, and television covered it. We hope to tour the rest of Florida, then New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, and Puerto Rico. The list of events can be found on my website, www.seagullone.com

I am currently working on the memoirs of a 101 year-old Cuban American woman whose life I find fascinating. I've also been approached by several very prominent persons to write their biographies. I believe so strongly that people's voices should be heard, their stories told. It's an honor to do that.



HALLIE: For more information about the book and and Brothers to the Rescue, visit Hermanos al Rescate. For information on Seagull One: The Amazing True Story of Brothers to the Rescue, visit www.seagullone.com.



Lily will be visiting with us on Jungle Red all day today, so please, share your comments and questions.