An Excerpt from In Good Hands and a Column on Day Care Safety

What I really liked about the package of stories in The State  newspaper is that Executive Editor Mark Lett immediately understood the first time we met in his office that my book presented an opportunity for his paper to address three issues simultaneously.

It could look back at a puzzling and intriguing case that for a long time divided his community (and to some extent still does). It could examine how much safer children in day care are today—in no small part as a result of that case. And it could present advice to help parents ensure that their own children in day care are safe.

My task was to help out on the look back and the advice.

The look back was easy. The paper periodically runs excerpts from books in one of its Sunday sections. All I had to do was give Lett a copy of my book. He and his staff decided to run the first two chapters, which appeared on Sept 18.

I appreciated the space. With the well-chosen art that ran with it, the article took up two full pages. That was a lot of acreage to give to a book.

But I think I appreciated even more Lett’s request that I write an opinion piece for the next day’s newspaper. He felt it was important to offer parents advice.

The column that ran on Sept. 19 gave me a chance to say in a little more depth what I also tried to articulate in the video the newspaper shot. Parents need to monitor their children in day care. They need to pay attention, and they must be willing to make a change if they sense that something is wrong.

It’s a theme that also runs through my book, which is about one mysterious case and the lessons that parents can learn from it. I’m grateful that The State  recognized the value in finding a way to give voice to both.

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