9/11 witness speaks at DiPhi event

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated where Ranald Adams' school was located in relation to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. His school was located in Brooklyn, N.Y. The story has been updated to reflect this change. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.

The author of a new novel about the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center told a group of about 20 UNC students Wednesday that he never intended to write a book.

R. C. Mulcahy, whose work “One From Two” was published in December, was working at the Newport Financial Center in Jersey City, N.J., when he saw the buildings go down, he told the small crowd in New West during an evening presentation hosted by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies.

“It was really as a way to honor those who have fallen,” Mulcahy said.

Rather than a memoir or nonfiction book, the author said he wrote a novel that uses characters as an analogy for the history of the towers, because it was the easiest way to reconcile his experiences.

“There are no words to describe how I was feeling,” he said. “The only way I was able to articulate my thoughts, in the most coherent way, is to write a novel.”

The one word he would use to express the scene, he said, was surreal.

“There was nothing but disbelief,” he said.

Freshman Ranald Adams, who was in the crowd, lived in Brooklyn as a child and said he was in school just a few blocks from home that day.

“There was a lot of confusion and fear,” Adams said.

Adams said his mother picked him up from kindergarten while there was debris in the air.

“I remember distinctly my mother taking me home from school through ash in the streets,” he said. “There aren’t a lot of times when I’ve seen may mom frightened.”

The author said all of his profits from the book will go to medical research.

Mulcahy spoke for about 20 minutes, then spent another half hour taking questions from students.

Isaac Warshauer, president of the organization, said Mulcahy contacted the group’s advisor this summer about visiting UNC as part of his tour.

He said a talk involving both literature and calls for philanthropy was particularly appropriate for the society to host.

“It is something that really fits into the mission of DiPhi,” he said.

Warshauer said he was slightly disappointed that more students didn’t attend.

“We tried to publicize. It’s not a huge crowd,” he said, adding that he was happy the event wasn’t too crowded.

Mulcahy, who will continue his book tour Thursday at the University of Virginia, said it is essential that students keep the terrorist attack and its victims in mind.

“Freedom comes with a price,” he said, “And those that paid the ultimate price must always be remembered.”

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