In The Man I Never Met, Schefter helps us get to know a most unusual man. Joe Maio was a fantastic friend, a skilled competitor and a hard worker. Enjoyed by both men and women, he made everyone around him, whether friend or family, actually be better...When the attack on the World Trade Center occurred, everyone who knew Joe simply assumed he would make it out. He was just that kind of guy --- the one who was always a success, the one everybody expected the best of and for. Tragically, Joe didn’t make it out. And the hole his absence created in the lives of those who loved him is still felt daily and on a yearly basis, when the annual remembrance of 9/11 and those lost in the terror attacks occurs ... Written to honor his wife, stepson and the Maios, Schefter’s warm, personable book introduces us to Joe and his impact on so many. It is a fascinating work, well worth reading, even as you grieve over the loss experienced by the Maios. Interestingly enough, it will encourage and inspire you at the same time. Don’t miss this wonderful memoir.
...Driven and successful, the once-divorced, 39-year-old author had been desperately seeking—and not finding—'the perfect relationship.' His life changed forever when he decided to take a chance on a 9/11 widow and her young son. Their connection was immediate and profound—and complex ... Schefter’s book is affecting not only for the story it tells of how the author learned to honor his wife’s husband as 'the fifth member of [his] family,' but also for how it shows a man growing into a mature understanding of the true meaning of love and sacrifice. An unexpectedly moving memoir.
ESPN sports analyst Schefter’s thoughtful though peculiar memoir tells his story of falling in love with the widow of a 9/11 victim, marrying her, and moving into her house. In part, Schefter’s memoir is a tribute to that man, Joe Maio, a Cantor Fitzgerald executive who died in the World Trade Center attacks ... In what at first comes across as a bizarre concept for a memoir, Schefter successfully communicates his joy in finding love and family, and in a friendship with a man he never knew.
Joe-the great man he was, what he stood for and his lasting influence upon a large circle of family and friends--anchors a narrative that noticeably maintains and preserves the privacy of Sharri and Devon and the depth of their personal feelings of grief and loss. Schefter, instead, chooses to focus on paying thoughtful homage to Joe Maio and all whose lives he touched, acknowledging his great admiration and respect for--and gratitude to--an absent man who is and will forever remain an active part in all of their lives.
