From Taya Kyle, New York Times bestselling author of American Wife and widow of “American Sniper” Chris Kyle, an inspiring collection of stories, both personal and drawn from American history, that showcase the resilience of the “American spirit.”
After losing her husband, “American Sniper” Chris Kyle, Taya Kyle entered a period of immense pain and grief. She was able to pull herself from the depths of that devastation with the help of family and friends—and also many strangers across America, who shared their own stories of suffering, survival and triumph. Bolstered by their resilience, Taya began a new career as an inspirational speaker and foundation leader, spreading her message of hope and love across the country.
Now, in American Spirit, Taya gives back to those who helped her along the way, by sharing the stories of Americans who inspired her. Working again with trusted collaborator Jim DeFelice (coauthor of American Sniper and American Wife), she tells the remarkable stories of more than 30 Americans, young and old, rich and not-so-rich, famous and unknown, who have done extraordinary things for their communities and for the national at large. There is the 9/11 survivor who became a senator, the reality TV star who helped the homeless when everyone else wanted to send them out of town, the young man who went trick or treating for a local food bank—and many other veterans, ministers, reporters, football stars, pilots, and teachers who show the very best side of America.
Taya Kyle is executive director of the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation. Chris and Taya’s story was the subject of Clint Eastwood’s blockbuster film American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller. She is a featured speaker on the Patriot Tour, with Marcus Luttrell, David Goggins, and Chad Fleming. Taya is the New York Times bestselling author of American Wife. She lives in Texas.
Jim DeFelice is the author of sixteen NY Times best-sellers, including American Sniper, the basis for Bradley Cooper’s blockbuster movie of the same name. Some of his other credits include Every Man a Hero, a best-selling account of Ray Lambert’s heroics at D-Day in World War Two, and They Called Us Lucky, the story of Lima 3/25, the Marine Corps’ hardest hit unit in the Iraq War, and the life of Congressman Ruben Gallego, a Harvard undergrad who joined the Corps to serve as an enlisted grunt.