A Chance to Bring Attention to Innocent Victims of War

SIMON SPOTLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT

Simon & Schuster
Contact: Betsy DeJesu, Senior Publicist
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

212/698-7243 | Elizabeth.DeJesu@simonandschuster.com


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The against-all-odds story of how a 28-year-old woman
from California took on the US government, changed
thousands of lives, and made the ultimate sacrifice.

SWEET RELIEF:
The Marla Ruzicka Story

by Jennifer Abrahamson

“The only solace in her death is that her story has
reached further. A lot of young women are inspired by
it. I wish more people had heard about her while she
was here.”
-- Jennifer Abrahamson

“In all the years I have lived, I do not know too many
people who have made an impact the way [Marla] has in
those twenty-eight short years.”
--Senator Barbara Boxer

“I count [Marla] among my heroes…”
--Sean Penn

Marla Ruzicka wanted to change the world, and she
succeeded. A free spirit who grew up in an idyllic
small California town, Marla became an activist at an
early age, and she never stopped fighting. Underneath
her bubbly, blonde appearance – this was a girl who
once rollerbladed down the halls of Congress -- Marla
was a savvy political operator, a war-time Mother
Theresa meets Erin Brokovich, who sacrificed her life
to give a voice to the invisible victims of war in
Iraq and Afghanistan. SWEET RELIEF: The Marla Ruzicka
Story, written by journalist Jennifer Abrahamson,
tells the unforgettable journey of an all-American
girl on her way to becoming a hero.


In SWEET RELIEF, Abrahamson recounts Marla’s quest to
improve the lives of the less fortunate. Marla’s
journey starts in the San Francisco area as a
grassroots activist, through her travels to Latin
America and Africa, and finally ends in the war zones
of Kabul and Baghdad.

Yet, despite her sunny demeanor, bright California
good looks, and fierce ambition, Marla was struggling
with her own personal demons. While everyone thought
Marla was on top of the world, she was in fact a
diagnosed manic-depressive who battled an eating
disorder, and a string of peaks and valleys in her
love life.

Through it all, Marla stayed dedicated to her work, as
she worked tirelessly to raise funds and awareness for
the cause closest to her heart -- the U.S. government
compensation for the civilian victims of the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan.

Eventually, Marla was able to achieve her goal; she
had a large hand in winning millions of dollars from
the U.S. government to support her cause. This was the
first time in history that the U.S. government had
made a legislative effort to allocate funds to provide
reconstruction assistance to civilians who had been
directly harmed by U.S. warfare. Unfortunately, Marla
would not be able to see the long-term effects of her
contributions. In April 2005 Marla was killed by a
suicide bomber on the infamous Airport Road in Iraq.
She was likely on her way to assist a family in need.
She was only twenty-eight years old.

Weeks later, President Bush officially re-named the
fund that Marla’s work had inspired The Marla Ruzicka
Fund, with almost $50 million currently available to
assist victims of U.S. warfare in Iraq and
Afghanistan. However, more than any amount of money,
it is Marla’s life story – one of unflagging love,
hope, courage, and determination – that may truly help
change the world some day.

As Jennifer Abrahamson writes, “When Marla was a
budding activist volunteering for Global Exchange, she
seized on an idea to write a ‘how-to’ handbook for
other young people who wanted to make a difference
with their lives. Marla, of course, was too busy
actually making a difference to see it through. In
writing SWEET RELIEF, I’ve come to realize that
Marla’s life is that handbook.”

About the author:
Jennifer Abrahamson was born and raised in the San
Francisco Bay Area. She has written for Slate, Salon,
Elle, and other media, and worked as a humanitarian
spokesperson for the United Nations in Africa. A job
with t he UN World Food Program took Jennifer to
Afghanistan, where she first met Marla Ruzicka in
2002. They began collaborating on this book just
before Marla lost her life. Jennifer lives in
Brooklyn, New York.

About the movie:
The movie version of SWEET RELIEF is in
pre-production, with Paramount/MTV Films producing and
Kirsten Dunst attached to portray Marla.

Sweet Relief: The Marla Ruzicka Story
Jennifer Abrahamson
September 26, 2006 | $24.95 | 272 pages |
1-4169-1778-0/978-1-4169-1778-6