On November 11, 1994, a Philadelphia teenager named Eddie Polec was brutally beaten and left to die-on the front steps of his own church-by a gang of teenagers from a neighboring suburb. Unfortunately, the tragedy didn't stop there. Within days of Eddie's death, it was disclosed that dozens of frantic 911 calls by bystanders had gone unanswered during a crucial forty minutes when Eddie was still alive and might have been saved. Written with the full cooperation of the Polecs, In Eddie's Name tells of the extraordinary way in which a seemingly ordinary family grappled with a nightmare come true. Rather than seek revenge or sue the city for millions, as seems almost de rigueur for victims' families, the Polecs responded with grace and courage. They sidestepped efforts to exploit the tragedy or to embroil themselves in the politics of a divided, angry city and instead undertook, as a more fitting tribute to a beloved son's memory, to bring about an overhaul of Philadelphia's fatally flawed 911 system. This rare story of decent people who became victims of fate-and chose to respond like heroes-is a heartbreaker and will be an inspiration to readers of all ages.
8 Pages of Black-and-White Photographs
Bryn Freedman and William Knoedelseder are journalists who covered the Polec case from the outset. Managing editor and vice president (respectively) of news at USA Broadcasting in Los Angeles, they are married to each other.
