Mary Tillman’s Book, "Boots on the Ground By Dusk: Searching for Answers in the Death of Pat Tillman," Launches in Paperback with Explosive New Foreword

The book release is timed to coincide with the August 20 release of The Tillman Story, a documentary by acclaimed film director Amir Bar-Lev

San Francisco, Calif.—August 09, 2010— Blurb, today announced the paperback release of Boots on the Ground By Dusk: Searching for Answers in the Death of Pat Tillman, a book by Mary Tillman with Narda Zacchino. The book chronicles the life and death of Pat Tillman, and the family’s unrelenting efforts to uncover the truth about his death in Afghanistan. The book is available for the first time in paperback at www.blurb.com ($16.95). It features an explosive new foreword by Mary Tillman describing the family’s ongoing appeals to President Obama, the Pentagon, and members of Congress, including Senator John McCain, to get to the bottom of what happened and hold accountable the senior military officials responsible for the cover-up of Pat’s death.

An excerpt from the foreword:

“McChrystal’s actions should have been grounds for firing. That is why it was so disturbing to us when President Obama instead promoted McChrystal to the position of top commander in Afghanistan last year. I had sent the president an email and a letter reminding him of McChrystal’s involvement in Pat’s cover-up. I suggested McChrystal should be ‘scrutinized very carefully’ by the Senate Armed Services Committee. I also contacted the staffs of Senator Patrick Leahy and Senator James Webb and expressed my concerns….”

“…On June 22, 2010, General Stanley McChrystal was forced to retire after remarks he and his staff made to a Rolling Stone reporter, Michael Hastings. A day after the story broke I read the full Hastings article. I found myself feeling strangely validated. The “Runaway General” is exactly the arrogant individual I thought him to be.”

Pat Tillman gave up his professional football career to join the Army Rangers after 9/11. In 2004, Pat was shot and killed in Afghanistan in a “friendly fire” gun battle. When the government tried to turn his death into propaganda, the Tillman family began a crusade to uncover the truth and expose the ensuing cover-up.

The book’s release in this new edition comes just two weeks before the August 20 release of The Tillman Story, a documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Amir Bar-Lev. The film features candid interviews with Pat’s fellow soldiers and his family. It reveals startling details about the military’s propaganda machine and goes beyond an indictment of the government to touch on themes as timeless as the notion of heroism itself. The Tillman Story is narrated by Josh Brolin. John Battsek is Producer. The Weinstein Company is distributing the film.

Readers who purchase the book will be supporting The Pat Tillman Foundation. As part of the Blurb for Good program, Blurb will donate $1 per book sold to the Foundation, which provides resources and educational support to veterans, active service members and their dependants.

Boots on the Ground By Dusk was first published in hardcover in 2008 by Modern Times, an imprint of Rodale. Leigh Haber, now a consultant for Blurb, originally acquired and edited the hardcover book, and helped Mary team up with Blurb for the paperback publication. The literary agent managing the project is Steve Wasserman.

About Blurb®
Blurb® is a self-publishing platform and creative community that enables individuals to design, publish, share, sell, and distribute photo books, trade books, and magazines in both print and digital formats across the globe using its free, innovative book creation and layout tools. Founded in 2005 by Executive Chairman, Eileen Gittins, Blurb has nearly 2 million independent book authors worldwide, resulting in 3.9 million unique book titles, with more than 14 million units shipped to 80 countries around the world. The company is headquartered in San Francisco and can be found online at www.blurb.com.