And unlike the earlier bombing on the World Trade Center a major landmark and symbol of the strength of the financial world was not just damaged but totally destroyed.

'Eyes Wide Open' took shape from two real life events straight from my own past. One was the sad suicide of my young nephew a troubled kid who was found at the bottom of a landmark cliff in central California. The second was a chance encounter forty years ago with none other than ahem Charles Manson!

When people ask me about my story I just go through the positive stuff: the tent-pole moments the big landmark checkpoints.

From 1965 to 1967 my dad Jack Gilligan served in Congress and helped pass landmark laws like the Voting Rights Act.