Media Advisory:

May 1, 2009

California Military Mom Susan Galleymore

Invited by Local Veterans Group to

Launch her New Book in Santa Monica

on Impact of War on Mothers

at Arlington West - Sunday, May 3rd - Noon-1pm

SANTA MONICA, CA (May 1, 2009) -- Susan Galleymore, the US military mom who made front-page headlines from the San Francisco Chronicle to France's Le Monde, when she took a dangerous journey to Iraq in 2004, to visit her soldier son stationed in the 'Sunni Triangle', north of Baghdad.

What she found in Iraq – the horrors of war which was at once heartbreaking and compelling - challenged her to continue her journey interviewing mothers in war zones including Iraq, Israel and the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Afghanistan and the US. These powerful first-person stories offer dramatic insight into the impact of war on mothers, families, communities, and cultures around-the-world.

Veterans for Peace LA Chapter has invited Gallymore to speak on Sunday, May 3rd at Noon, to share stories from her new book, Long Time Passing: Mothers Speak About War and Terror, published this week by Pluto Press / Palgrave MacmIllian, at Santa Monica's famed Arlington West.

Every Sunday, Veterans for Peace - LA Chapter members and volunteers set up crosses in the sand, directly north of the Santa Monica Pier, highly visible to the thousands of people who came out for a day at the beach. Each cross represents an American soldier who has died in Iraq and Afghanistan including the names, ages, hometowns and circumstances of their deaths.

WHEN: Sunday, May 3rd, at Noon - 1PM

WHERE: Arlington West Santa Monica

North of Santa Monica Pier, on the beach,

Santa Monica, CA 90401

WHO: Author Susan Galleymore's son served in Afghanistan and Iraq. She is South African-born and now based in the San Francisco's Bay Area, Susan Galleymore continues to share the stories of those affected by war as founder of MotherSpeak, as a radio host for Raising Sand Radio, and as a counselor on the G.I. Rights Hotline.

Tina Richards, mother of two sons who have deployed to Iraq and Chapter Leader of Military Families Speak Out -LA She will read her new poem "Flag Draped Coffins."

BOOK SIGNING TO FOLLOW EVENT: with author, Susan Galleymore.

SPONSORED BY: Veterans for Peace - LA Chapter

For more information, please visit: www.mothersspeakaboutwarandterror.org



HEADS-UP: On Mother's Day, May 10th Noon to 2PM, Military Families Speak Out LA will be holding a Speak Out for Military Mothers at Arlington West. Local Gold Star and Blue Star mothers will speak out in their own words. Jane Bright, Mother to Evan Ashcraft, one of the original founders of Gold Star Families for Peace, Gold Star Families Speak Out, Dede Miller, Aunt to Casey Sheehan, One of the original founders of Gold Star Families for Peace and Pat Aviso, Son Currently Serving in Afghanistan, California Regional Co-Ordinater, MFSO.

*******

Long Time Passing: Mothers Speak about War and Terror

Military Mom & Author Susan Galleymore's

MotherSpeak Book Tour Sunday, May 3 Now Hits

Santa Monica Beach and Downtown Los Angeles

Just in time for Mother's Day, a moving portrait of what it means to be a mother in time of war...

Long Time Passing book coverJust Added Santa Monica:

Sunday, May 3rd, at NOON



Arlington West Santa Monica North of Santa Monica Pier, on the beach, Santa Monica, CA 90401

Directions

AND

Downtown Los Angeles:

Sunday, May 3rd,

Reception: 2:30pm Event: 3:00pm

With Art, Poetry, and Refreshments!

American Friends Service Commit.-LA

634 S. Spring St., Main Floor, (6th St and Spring) Los Angeles, CA 90014

Directions

These events are free and open to the public

Susan Galleymore, the mother of a U.S. soldier, made international headlines by taking the extraordinary and dangerous step of traveling to Iraq to visit her son stationed on a military base in the so-called Sunni Triangle, north of Baghdad.

What she found in Iraq challenged her to continue her journey interviewing mothers in war zones including Iraq, Israel and the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Afghanistan—as well as in the U.S. These powerful first-person stories offer dramatic insight into the impact of war on mothers, families, communities, and cultures around the world.

Long Time Passing: Mothers Speak About War and Terror gets to the heart of extreme social experiences—war and warriors, mothers and children, communities and cultures—and explores the meaning of courage, fear, and leadership.

Susan Galleymore

Each stop on the national book tour will feature local US military mothers and/or refugee mothers, including those whose stories are told in Long Time Passing: Mothers Speak About War and Terror.

Santa Monica:

* Author Susan Galleymore's son served in Afghanistan and Iraq. She is South African-born and now based in the San Francisco's Bay Area, Susan Galleymore continues to share the stories of those affected by war as founder of MotherSpeak, as a radio host for Raising Sand Radio, and as a counselor on the G.I. Rights Hotline.

* Tina Richards, mother of two sons who have deployed to Iraq and Chapter Leader of Military Families Speak Out -LA She will read her new poem "Flag Draped Coffins."

Downtown Los Angeles

Author Susan Galleymore plus:

Southern California Area Mothers and Others Sharing Their Stories:

* Rossana Cambron, a member of the San Gabriel Chapter of Military Families Speak Out, whose son is an active US service member completing a tour in Iraq

* Patty Domay, a local citizen activist who works to oppose military recruiters in her neighborhood.

* Cole Miller is the Founding Director of No More Victims and co-creator and producer of an award-winning co-environmentally focused radio series, Isla Earth. He travels frequently to the Middle East, and manages the day-to-day operations of NMV.

* MC: Eisha Mason, Host of KPFK's Morning Review, Assoc. Regional Director, AFSC-Pacific SW Region

* POETRY: Vivien Sansour, a native of Palestine, poems will include: "Live From Gaza" and "A letter from an Israeli soldier to his mother."

Each event displays Iraqi children's art - sponsored by Iraqi Children's Art Exchange

Book signing with Susan Galleymore follows both events



What They're Saying About Long Time Passing:

"Eloquently presents the universal fear, sorrow, and suffering experienced by mothers whose lives have been profoundly affected by war." —Mary Tillman, co-author of Boots on the Ground at Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman and mother of football star Pat Tillman killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan.

"A heartfelt and gut-wrenching account—a must read for anyone wanting to understand the effects of modern war." —Andrew J. Bacevich, Professor of International Relations at Boston University and author of The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism. His son, Andrew, was killed in the Iraq war.

For more information about the 10-city book tour and to order the book please visit: www.mothersspeakaboutwarandterror.org

Published by Pluto Press (UK) and distributed by Palgrave Macmillan (US)