Review of "An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11-Year-Old Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting with Destiny" by Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski

"An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11-Year-Old Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting with Destiny" by Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski

I found this book to be profoundly moving and very relevant to the life I live.  My home is in Boston and I spend quite a bit of time in New York City.  Both urban areas have so many homeless panhandlers that most residents have put up a shield against them, and they are thereby rendered virtually invisible.  Such was the case with successful advertising executive Laura Schroff when she walked by an 11-year-old boy who asked, "Excuse me lady, do you have any spare change?  I am hungry."  She walked by, but halfway across the street, something prompted her to turn around and walk back to the boy.  Later in the book, Laura credits the spirit of her mother as the impetus for her change of heart.  Instead of giving money to the boy, whom she would soon learn was named Maurice, she offered to buy him lunch at McDonald's.  In this simple way the arcs of two lives were forever changed.

What makes this book so remarkable is the transparency with which Laura tells the story of her enduring friendship with Maurice, told with the very able assistance of Alex Tresniowski.  Much to the surprise of both Laura and Alex, they shared similar family dynamics of abuse that one would never suspect looking at their outward appearance.  As Laura was giving to Maurice - food, time, attention, new life experiences, a view of a healthy family - she was receiving from him just as abundantly.  Their relationship began as an unlikely friendship and evolved into a kind of mother-son bond that continues strong to this day as Maurice is raising his own family.

The book is masterful in drawing the reader into the growing web of complications that surrounded the developing friendship between Maurice and Laura.  Friends and family on both side were fearful of the dangers.  His grandmother once advised Maurice: "Stay away from that white bitch."  Laura's friends often asked if she really knew what she was doing.  The path to a long and mutually enriching friendship was not a smooth or linear one, and the book is unblinking in talking about the flaws that both Laura and Maurice brought to the table.

I do much of my reading on the subway during my morning and evening commutes.  I frequently found myself taking off my glasses to wipe my eyes as I worked through the narrative of this intriguing tale.  This is a "Pay It Forward" story that is challenging and inspiring.  I am heading to NYC in a few days, and will be bringing the book with me to offer as a gift to one of my friends - a New York executive who is among the millions who have learned to treat panhandlers as invisible.  This story just may change his way of seeing the world - and seeing himself in that world.

The holiday gift giving season is almost upon us.  This book would make a terrific gift to give to anyone who walks the streets of any of our nation's cities and struggles with how to respond to the less fortunate.

Enjoy!

Al