Eric Leinung first joined PT during the organizing retreat in 2004, on which he accompanied member, John Leinung, his dad. Eric lost his older brother, John’s step-son, Paul Battaglia in the attacks. Paul worked for Marsh and McLennan on the 100th floor of Tower 1. Eric subsequently attended the founding conference of the World Network for Peace in 2006, and in the summer of 2007 served as PT’s office intern during which time he was involved in the lobbying campaign with Amnesty International about the closure of Guantánamo Bay. In 2011, Eric shared the story of his family’s loss as part of the award winning WNYC Radio Rookies workshop “Our 9/11: Growing Up In The Aftermath,” winner of a “Best Radio Documentary in a Top Market of 2011” from the Society of Professional Journalism’s Sigma Delta Chi awards:
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/rookies/clusters/2011/aug/08/911/
Eric is currently working freelance on a followup which he plans to have ready for the 15th commemoration and has interviewed several PT members already. Eric is also an aspiring theatre educator and playwright, he has written two professionally produced Off-Broadway plays under the name Eric Grayson.
