Hillenbrand laura biography of rory

Interview

Laura Hillenbrand explains how she became spellbound by the life of Louie Zamperini, the hero of her new book, Unbroken.

The Story of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Eight years ago, an old man told me a story that took my breath away.&#; His name was Louie Zamperini, and from the day I first spoke to him, his almost incomprehensibly dramatic life was my obsession.

It was a horse&#;the subject of my first book, Seabiscuit: An American Legend--who led me to Louie.&#; As I researched the Depression-era racehorse, I kept coming across stories about Louie, a s track star who endured an amazing odyssey in World War II.&#; I knew only a little about him then, but I couldn't shake him from my mind.&#; After I finished Seabiscuit, I tracked Louie down, called him and asked about his life.&#; For the next hour, he had me transfixed.

Growing up in California in the s, Louie was a hellraiser, stealing everything