Tripp Friedler is Heidi's husband, a father, a business owner, and a philanthropist. He's donating 100% of his proceeds from The Tunnel to mental health organizations. His first book was FreeGulliver: Six Swift Lessons in Life Planning. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Amherst College and a law degree from Tulane. Friedler is an Accredited Estate Planner (AEP) and has finished all class requirements for a master’s in counseling at Loyola University.

Schedule

10:00 am to 10:45 am
State Library, Fifth Floor, Capitol View Room
Fathers and Sons: Exploring Grief, Redemption, and Family Ties
John Dufresne, My Darling Boy: A Novel
Tripp Friedler, The Tunnel: A Memoir
with moderator Clancy DuBos

11:00 am to 11:45 am
Cavalier House Books Tent
Book Signing

The Tunnel: A Memoir

"From the opening line, the author paints a vivid portrait of a parent who feels helpless in the face of their child's pain."
- Kirkus Reviews

"This beautifully written book is a powerful and moving story of a family's struggle with mental illness."
- Walter Isaacson, bestselling biographer of Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and Elon Musk

The Tunnel is a father's memoir about a family's odyssey through the world of serious mental illness. It is a story about the battles Friedler's son Henry fought with his parents, with various authority figures—including schools, teachers, and the police— and most importantly, the battles Henry fought with his own mind. Henry's story takes place for the most part in the distinctive air of Uptown New Orleans. He came from a well-educated and prosperous Southern family, the only son between two sisters. The memoir chronicles the way society views, treats, and even criminalizes the mentally ill. It is a love story of a husband and wife as well as a fractured love story of a father and son. But at its heart The Tunnel is a story of the resilience of a family, a man, and a marriage. It is a story of taking that gasp of air at the end of a tunnel—a breath that says you are alive, you made it through your own tunnel of darkness, and you will find happiness on the other side.