Gracefully Gone is the fusion of two journals: my father, Matthew L Coppola Sr.'s and mine. My father's journal was written in 1982, two years after his diagnosis and remission with brain cancer. Mine was written in 1990-1991, roughly eight years later, as he began to die. In Gracefully Gone I chronicle my twenty-one year old pursuit of life and all the bitter and amusingly confusing angst that accompanies being twenty-one during the last six months of my father's struggle towards death. I am hoping my life, my father's life and our story, might be meaningful to strangers; or perhaps, if not meaningful, then at the very least, identifiable, relatable and at times, humorously understandable. Gracefully Gone is not about death, it is about the journey of a family, specifically, the journey of a young girl trying to find her way in the wake of growing up in the looming shadow of cancer. Gracefully Gone is written as a prayer for all the families, all the children too young to understand and for all the victims of this all too often insurmountable war to know they are not alone. Even though my mother and brother went through the same experience as I, we experienced it very differently. It was as if my father was the LOVEBOAT and we three were on our own separate lifeboats surrounding him, each of us handling our grief privately. Perhaps, if we're really lucky, Gracefully Gone might allow someone a little peace and some comfort knowing that even though they are on their own lifeboats they are in an ocean full of them.
About the Author: You know me from CBS's Jericho, the only television show in a decade to be renewed after cancellation due to popular fan response. You also know me from the 141 episodes of primetime television that I have done in my twenty-year career: From Lorna Devon on NBC's long running soap opera Another World for which I was nominated twice and won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Younger Leading Actress to starring in television series such as TNT's Bull, NBC's Cold Feet, to name a few. I am highly recognizable for my roles in CBS's CSI and Two And A Half Men, NBC's Law And Order; Criminal Intent, Crossing Jordan, USA's SUITS and the feature film National Treasure 2, Book Of Secrets. I have recently recurred on ABC FAMILY's Nine Lives Of Chloe King and USA's Common Law. You will see me very soon playing Talia Hale in the much anticipated flashback episode of MTV's Teen Wolf. It brings me back to my home network where I began my career during my college years at NYU, as the hostess of the iconic popular MTV game show Remote Control alongside co-host Colin Quinn. My father was Matthew Louis Coppola Sr. He was born October 30, 1942 and died January 13, 1991. Everything in between these dates was a life well lived and well loved. According to the people who knew him best my father had a great sense of humor and a childlike sense of fun. He was a great athlete, a hard worker and a terrific friend. He was a pied piper to all children, a supportive, loyal husband, a dreamer, an actor and a present, fair and loving parent.