Lauren Grandcolas: Witness to September 11

Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas (31 August 1963 – 11 September 2001) was an American marketing expert and passenger on United Airlines Flight 93. She made calls from the hijacked aircraft on September 11, 2001, providing information about the attack and leaving a final message for her husband.

Early Life and Education

Grandcolas was born on August 31, 1963, in Bloomington, Indiana. She attended Stratford High School in Houston, Texas, before enrolling at the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a member of Alpha Delta Pi. She met her husband, Jack Grandcolas, at the university.

Career and Achievements

Grandcolas worked for a law firm and later for PricewaterhouseCoopers before becoming a marketing expert for Good Housekeeping. Beyond her corporate roles, she was writing a self-help book for women covering finance and other topics. At the time of her death, a publisher had expressed interest in the manuscript.

Her involvement extended to charitable work with organizations including the United Way, March of Dimes, Project Open Hand, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Breast Cancer Awareness, and Glide Memorial. She was also a certified emergency medical technician.

Notable Events and Milestones

On September 11, 2001, Grandcolas boarded United Airlines Flight 93 after arriving early at the airport, which allowed her to board earlier than her originally scheduled flight. She had been attending her grandmother’s funeral in Carlstadt, New Jersey, and was returning home to San Rafael, California.

During the hijacking, Grandcolas called her husband from toward the rear of the aircraft in row 23, though she had been originally seated in seat 11D. She left a message for her husband, who was still sleeping, telling him of the “problem with the plane.” She then passed her phone to Honor Elizabeth Wainio. Her final message was later featured in the 2005 docudrama The Flight That Fought Back.

At the time of her death, Grandcolas was 38 years old and three months pregnant with her first child. Her father, Lawrence R. Catuzzi, served as co-chairman of the Flight 93 National Memorial task force from 2002 to 2005.

Awards and Honors

Grandcolas and her unborn child were memorialized at the South Pool on Panel S-68 at the National 9/11 Memorial, alongside other passengers from Flight 93. After her death, her sisters worked with Chronicle Books to publish her self-help manuscript as You Can Do It!: The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls on April 10, 2005. Book proceeds support the Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas Foundation, which funds college scholarships. Her sisters appeared on Good Morning America on April 19, 2005, to discuss the published work, and excerpts have appeared in Parade, Glamour, Shape, Good Housekeeping, and other publications.

Additional Resources

Lauren Grandcolas’s story has been documented in multiple films depicting the events of September 11, 2001, including The Flight That Fought Back (2005), Flight 93 (2006), and United 93 (2006). Readers seeking more detailed information about her life, work, and legacy can consult Wikipedia’s comprehensive biography and the National 9/11 Memorial archives.

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