I recently met up with Lucy Easthope, a close family friend who we don’t get to see nearly enough because of where she lives and her work.
Why am I writing this article about Lucy? Because she is all kinds of person, self employed, a Disaster Recovery Planner - plane crashes, floods, Tsunami’s (not server crashes, which is what I deal with!), a professor and lecturer, an author, not forgetting wife to one of my best friends and a mum of two girls. She’s an absolute inspiration.
Me with Lucy at her book tour
Lucy is a world-leading authority in emergency planning and has been everywhere that’s had a major disaster, as part of the advisory board to Governments, Councils and companies globally. She has provided her expertise to assess the scale of a disaster and what is needed to ensure smooth operations in the aftermath. Over the course of her career, she has advised on the 2014 Boxing Day tsunami, the 9/11 attacks, the 7/7 bombings, the Grenfell fire and recently, the Covid-19 aftermath - to name a few.
Lucy had a Liverpudlian childhood steeped in the Hillsborough tragedy, which started her interest in disaster recovery.
In March this year, Lucy published a book of her memoirs, revealing what happens in and after these disasters. This book, aptly titled When the Dust Settles lifts us up by showing that humanity, hope and humour can - and must - be found on the darkest days.
I’m about 3/4 of the way through this book. My wife Emma read it on the day it was released and it had her in tears.
It has received excellent (and well-deserved) reviews from the media including:
**SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER**
*A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK*
'A gripping account, filled with compassion.' - Sunday Times
'Exemplary and displays a painstaking sensitivity.' - New Statesman
'A remarkable account...that it is ultimately hopeful and uplifting, is down to the utter human decency that the author represents' - Mail on Sunday
'Enthralling...though laced with bleak humour, this vivid and humane book forces readers to look into some exceptionally dark places' – Observer
Links:
More about her book is available here
Follow Lucy on Twitter (she’s very active!)
We tend to go through life thinking ‘it will never happen to me’ and that it always happens to someone else, but you should still have a plan and be prepared. Lucy has her own grab bag.
