Not a day goes by when Nick Schuyler doesn’t have flashbacks about the tragic fishing trip where he lost his three best friends, Will Bleakley, Corey Smith, and Marquis Cooper. With two having died in his arms, Schuyler writes Not Without Hope to honor and get the truth out about what really happened. In 2010, one year after this horrific fishing trip, Schuyler writes this heartbreaking story for the public to understand what really happened and hopefully learn from their mistakes.
Nick Schuyler was 24 years old, being 6 foot 2 inches, and weighing 239 pounds, he was extremely fit and strong. (Not Without Hope, Page 16, Paragraph 4, Lines 2 and 3) Schuyler had made the football team for the University of South Florida in February 2006 as a walk-on after spending two years at Kent State. (Not Without Hope, Page 17, Paragraphs 4 and 5, Lines 2 and 3 from paragraph 4 and Lines 1-3 from paragraph 5). He was a personal trainer who went to the gym for hours upon hours where he meet National Football League player Marquis Cooper and later on, another National Football League player, Corey Smith. (Not Without Hope, Book cover, Line 2 and Page 7, Paragraph 2)
Now, Nick lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife, Paula Oliveira, (his girlfriend at the time of the accident) and his dogs.
Now, Nick lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife, Paula Oliveira, (his girlfriend at the time of the accident) and his dogs.
Never having written his own story, let alone an emotional personal one, Nick Schuyler asked Jere Longman to help him get the truth out about this harrowing day in February.
Jere Longman, born on July 17th, 1954, in Coronado, California, but grew up in Eunice, Louisiana. He earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Louisiana State University. Longman had been a sports reporter for the New York Times since 1993 covering many international sports, but especially, the Olympics. Before writing for the New York Times, he worked as a reporter for others such as the Philidelphia Inquirer, a general assignment sports writer, and for the Dalllas Times Herald. Longman has written other books incuding The Girls of Summer: The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team and How It Changed the World, Among the Heroes: United Flight 93 and the Passengers and Crew Who Fought Back, If Football’s a Religion, Why Don’t We Have a Prayer?: Philidelphia, Its Faithful, and the Eternal Quest for Sports Salvation, and The Hurricanes: One High School Team’s Homecoming After Katrina. (Not Without Hope)