Positive Psychology: Best-Selling Detroit Author Jeffrey Zaslow Killed in Car Accident | Video

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Best-Selling Detroit Author Jeffrey Zaslow Killed in Car Accident | Video | TheBlaze.com

This is the story of a man who died before his time and walked in interesting shoes when he co-authored books with Randy Pausch, Sully Sullenberger, and Gabrielle Gifford all famous for tragedies visited and averted.

Best-Selling Detroit Author Jeffrey Zaslow Killed in Car Accident | Video | TheBlaze.com

Author Jeff Zaslow Dies at Age 53: MyFoxDETROIT.com

DETROIT (AP) — Best-selling author Jeffrey Zaslow was killed Friday when he lost control of his car on a snowy road after promoting his latest book in northern Michigan. He was 53.

Zaslow, co-author of the million-selling book “The Last Lecture,” was also a former columnist for The Wall Street Journal and former advice columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. Zaslow, who had an affinity for stories of heroism and resilience, worked on memoirs of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and airline pilot Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger.

“Jeff was a beautiful writer, wonderful collaborator, loving husband, father and friend,” Sullenberger, who was praised for his skill after safely ditching a plane in the Hudson River in 2009, said in a written statement Friday. “Our whole family loved him dearly and he will be sorely missed.”

Zaslow was killed in an accident Friday morning in Warner Township, about 160 miles northwest of Lansing, according to the Antrim County sheriff’s office. Zaslow’s car slid into the path of a semitrailer. He was killed on impact.

Zaslow was in northern Michigan speaking about “The Magic Room: A Story About the Love We Wish for Our Daughters.” The book, based on a Michigan bridal shop, was published in December.

“His great talent was to find stories that had heart that people could relate to,” Morris said.

Positive Psychology given credence by Academia:

Positive psychology is the scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive.

Commentators on the subject Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, note that:

"The field of positive psychology at the subjective level is about valued subjective experiences: well-being, contentment, and satisfaction (in the past); hope and optimism (for the future); and flow and happiness (in the present).

At the individual level, it is about positive individual traits: the capacity for love and vocation, courage, interpersonal skill, aesthetic sensibility, perseverance, forgiveness, originality, future mindedness, spirituality, high talent, and wisdom.

At the group level, it is about the civic virtues and the institutions that move individuals toward better citizenship: responsibility, nurturance, altruism, civility, moderation,tolerance, and work ethic."