Monday, Feb 10, 2025 7:00 PM

Location:
The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library
441 John Lewis Freedom Parkway, NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30307

What does a mother say to the person responsible for kidnapping, torturing, and murdering her son? National Book Award-winning author Colum McCann channels Diane Foley’s voice as she tells her story, as the mother of American journalist Jim Foley – in search of answers, beyond justice, found through dogged, empathetic, spiritual enquiry.

The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and A Cappella Books welcomes Colum McCann to discuss their new book, “American Mother.” The author will will appear in conversation with a multi-award-winning journalist and ESPN Senior Writer, Tom Junod.

This event is free and open to the public. Copies of the "American Mother" will be available for purchase at the venue.

About the Book

In late 2021, Diane Foley sat at a table across from her son’s killer, Alexanda Kotey, a member of the ISIS group known as “The Beatles” who plead guilty to the kidnapping, torture, and murder of her son seven years before. Kotey was about to go serve life imprisonment and this was Diane’s chance to talk to the man who had been involved with brutally taking her son’s last breath. What would she say to his killer? What would he reveal to her? Might she even be able to summon forgiveness for him?

So begins “American Mother”—which reads alternately like a thriller, a biography, a mystery, a memoir, and a literary examination of grace.

Diane looks back on the early days when Jim was a child and his journey to journalism, and the killing fields of the world where he reports with indefatigable determination and insight on the plight of those caught up in the agonies of war. She guides us through her family history and the difficulties they faced when Jim was captured. And she also charts the tenacity it takes to turn her grief into grace as she seeks to give voice to those who are still being kidnapped and wrongfully detained around the world.

Few journeys are more worthy than this and, in this astonishing book, we are all invited to celebrate the lives of those who are never, in the end, gone.

About the Authors

Colum McCann is the author of seven novels, three collections of stories, and two works of non-fiction. Born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, he has been the recipient of many international honors, including the U.S. National Book Award, the International Dublin Literary Prize, a Chevalier des Arts et Lettres from the French government, election to the Irish arts academy, several European awards, the 2010 Best Foreign Novel Award in China, and an Oscar nomination. In 2017 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts. His work has been published in over 40 languages. He is the President and co-founder of the non-profit global story exchange organization, Narrative 4. He lives in New York with his wife Allison and their family. His 2009 novel “Let the Great World Spin” has sold a million copies in the United States alone, and was voted on the New York Times Readers List, “100 Best Books of the 21st Century.” “Apeirogon,” published in 2020, became an immediate New York Times bestseller and won several major international awards. His first major non-fiction book, “American Mother,” was published in February 2024 and was a bestseller in Ireland, Italy, and France. His newest novel, “Twist,” will be published in March 2025.

Diane Foley founded the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation to advocate for freedom for innocent Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad and for journalist safety. Foley has raised awareness about international hostage taking through her government advocacy, the documentary, “Jim: The James Foley Story,” and opinion pieces in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband, Dr. John W. Foley, and is the mother of four other children and seven grandchildren.