Join us in conversation as we discuss “The Missing Child” Author Paul O’ Connor.
A Sealed Envelope Sent Him Searching: Former Journalism Professor Reconstructs Mother’s Hidden Past
Most families possess stories that were never fully told. Retired journalist and former journalism professor Paul T. O’Connor believes many of those stories can still be recovered and transformed into fascinating family narratives.
His new book, The Missing Child: The Life She Lived and the Life She Missed, began with a mystery surrounding his mother’s so-called “adoption” and a cache of private papers discovered after her death, including one envelope marked with a startling instruction: “burn without opening.”
Instead, O’Connor opened it — and found himself propelled on a years-long investigation into his mother’s hidden past, during which he pieced together a life shaped by secrecy, instability and quiet resilience.
“Our mother had always had a secret,” O’Connor said. “And now we had found it.”