Lauren Grandcolas

Lauren Grandcolas
Lauren Grandcolas
Born	Template:Birth date; Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.
Died	September 11, 2001 (aged 38)
Occupation(s)	Marketing professional, author, emergency medical technician
Known for	Passenger aboard United Airlines Flight 93 during the September 11 attacks; author of You Can Do It!: The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls

Lauren Grandcolas (August 31, 1963 – September 11, 2001) was a passenger aboard United Airlines Flight 93 during the events of the September 11 attacks. She contacted her husband to inform him about the hijacking in progress.

Biography

Born as Lauren Catuzzi in Bloomington, Indiana, she completed her secondary education at Stratford High School in Houston. She pursued higher studies at the University of Texas at Austin, where she became a member of Alpha Delta Pi and met her future spouse, Jack Grandcolas.

In her career, Grandcolas held positions at a law firm and PricewaterhouseCoopers before specializing in marketing at Good Housekeeping. At the time of her passing, she was working on a self-help guide aimed at women focusing on financial literacy and life skills, which had garnered interest from publishers. After her death, her sisters partnered with Chronicle Books to release You Can Do It!: The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls in 2005. This book employs a merit badge concept to teach competencies such as negotiation and motivates readers to accomplish objectives like horseback riding and completing triathlons. Selected portions were published in prominent magazines including Parade, Glamour, and Good Housekeeping. The earnings from the book support the Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas Foundation’s scholarship program for college students.

Grandcolas was deeply involved with several charitable organizations, including United Way, March of Dimes, Project Open Hand, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Breast Cancer Awareness initiatives, and Glide Memorial. Additionally, she was a licensed emergency medical technician.

September 11 attacks

"Jack, pick up sweetie, can you hear me? Okay. I just want to tell you, there's a little problem with the plane. I'm fine. I'm totally fine. I just want to tell you how much I love you."

Message left by Lauren Grandcolas from United 93.

On September 11, 2001, Grandcolas was traveling back to San Rafael, California following her attendance at her grandmother’s funeral in Carlstadt, New Jersey. She arrived at the airport ahead of schedule that morning, enabling her to board United Airlines Flight 93 earlier than planned.

Although initially assigned seat 11D, Grandcolas made a phone call to her husband from row 23 near the plane’s rear section. During this call, she left a voicemail describing the "problem with the plane." This message was later featured in the docudrama The Flight That Fought Back. Afterward, she handed her phone to fellow passenger Honor Elizabeth Wainio. At the time she lost her life at age 38, she was expecting their first child and was three months pregnant.

Her father, Lawrence R. Catuzzi, served as co-chair of the Flight 93 National Memorial task force between 2002 and 2005.

Both Lauren Grandcolas and her unborn child are honored at the South Pool, Panel S-68, alongside other passengers of Flight 93 at the National 9/11 Memorial.

Published works

You Can Do It!: The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls, published posthumously in 2005 by Chronicle Books; includes book and sticker set (completed through the dedication of her sisters Vaughn Lohec and Dara Near)

In popular culture

Christy Dawn Little takes on the role of Lauren Grandcolas in the 2005 TV movie The Flight That Fought Back, which dramatizes the passenger revolt aboard United Airlines Flight 93.
In the 2006 production Flight 93, the character of Lauren Grandcolas is brought to life by Jacqueline Ann Steuart.
The 2006 film United 93 features Kate Jennings Grant portraying her.

References

23. Elizabeth Wainio

External links