Life's Been a Blast: The true story of Birmingham bomb survivor Emily Lyons

By Emily Lyons

Emily Lyons survived a bomb detonated by Eric Robert Rudolph in Birmingham, Alabama on Jan 29th, 1998. Rudolph was on the FBI's Top Ten for over five years with a reward of one million dollars. The... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0976906309
• ISBN13: 9780976906308
• Release Date: July 2005
• Publisher: Emily Lyons
• Length: 314 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.7" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

An amazing, inspiring story

This real life drama has all the makings of a fictional best seller - drama, an amazing love story and the amazing capacity of the human spirit. Sadly, this story is not fiction. The crime committed against Emily Lyons and her husband, children and even friends is all too real - as seen in the scars she must live with everyday, the all to often doctor's visits and the physical limits in which she must live, but it is also most visable in her spirit. Emily has survived what few could. She is stronger than before. This is so true in reading this chilling account of terrorism - she is stronger, more opinionated and no doubt more loved by all those who know her. This is dramatically seen in the touching and truthful love story between she and her husband, Jeff. In an age when so many of us are searching for true love - painful, wonderful, joyful love- these two prove that it can still be found, it just may take a little time. I am proud to recommend this life affirming and life changing account. It is a well written, insightful and enjoyable read - and it might just inspire you to examine your life and what you value in it. Emily and Jeff Lyons prove it is worth standing up and fighting for.

Living well is the best revenge.

(Excerpt from the NY Times Monday, July 18, 2005 "A Remorseless Rudolph Gets Life Sentence for Bombing at Clinic" By SHADI RAHIMI) Eric Rudolph, who has confessed to the Atlanta Olympics bombing and three other explosions that killed two and injured 150, received two life sentences today for a fatal abortion clinic blast after angrily denouncing abortion and telling the federal court that "deadly force is needed to stop it." Mr. Rudolph, a 38-year-old former Army explosives expert, pleaded guilty in April to setting off a bomb that injured a nurse, Emily Lyons, and killed a police officer, Robert Sanderson, outside the Woman All Women abortion clinic in Birmingham, Ala., in 1998. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without parole today in a federal courtroom in Birmingham. Under a plea agreement that allowed him to avoid the death penalty for the four bombings, Mr. Rudolph also confessed in April to the bombing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics that killed a woman and injured more than 100 people, and the bombing of a gay bar and an abortion clinic in Atlanta in 1997. Mr. Rudolph is scheduled to receive two life sentences without parole in August for the Atlanta blasts. Victims of the Birmingham bombings had waived their right to speak at the plea hearing in April, saying that they would wait for the sentence hearing. In the courtroom today, Ms. Lyons, the nurse at the abortion clinic, called Mr. Rudolph "a monster." "When it was your turn to face death, you weren't so brave again," she said. "You want to see a monster, all you have to do is look in the mirror." As a result of injuries from the bombing, Ms. Lyons lost her left eye and underwent more than 20 operations. According to her Web site, she released her self-published book about the bombing, "Life's Been a Blast," today - her 49th birthday. Ms. Lyons said in an 8-page statement posted on the Web site today that she had not received "the justice our laws allow" - the death penalty for Mr. Rudolph. Ms. Lyons addressed Mr. Rudolph directly as she read portions of the statement today. "To spend my life in anger and resentment would be another victory for you, and one I chose not to give," Ms. Lyons wrote. "I will hold my head up high and I will enjoy the time you were unable to take from me. The best revenge is to live well."