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Brought to you by the Depression Is Real Coalition, The Down & Up Show is dedicated to the reality of depression. Our hosts will talk with some of the world's top experts on depression, as well as people who have been impacted by this illness. The reality of depression is that it is a debilitating and potentially deadly medical condition that affects more than 15 million Americans every year. The other reality of depression is that there is hope. John DeDakis Author and CNN Senior Copy Editor John DeDakis is an editor and writer for "The Situation Room," (Mon.-Fri. 4-7pm ET) anchored by Wolf Blitzer. DeDakis is the author of the mystery/suspense novel "Fast Track" published by ArcheBooks. It's the story of a young woman's search for purpose as she solves the mystery surrounding the car-train collision which orphaned her as an infant. The novel deals with issues of suicide, journalistic integrity, anonymous sources, and mentoring relationships. "Fast Track" grew out of two events in the author's life: a fatal car/train crash he witnessed as a youngster in 1959 and the suicide of his sister in 1980. DeDakis, a native of La Crosse, Wisconsin, began his journalism career in 1969 by getting tear gassed as he covered an anti-Vietnam War riot for a campus radio station at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned a BA in Journalism from that university in 1977 following a stint in the Army where he worked from 1972-74 as a Special Events Reporter at The American Forces Network - Europe, based in Frankfurt, Germany. DeDakis is a former White House Correspondent and has interviewed such luminaries as Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Alfred Hitchcock. DeDakis has been with CNN since July 1988. From 2001 to 2005, he supervised the writing on CNN's "Daybreak," anchored by Carol Costello. From 1976 to 1983, DeDakis was a reporter at WMTV (NBC) in Madison, Wisconsin. From 1983 to 1988 he was a correspondent with CBN News in Virginia Beach, Virginia and Washington, DC. In addition to book signings and readings, DeDakis frequently speaks on the topic "From Journalist to Novelist: (Or How I Learned to Stop Telling the Truth and Start Making it Up)." He is lecturer at American University, Washington, DC where he taught a journalism class of student interns during the summer of 2007. DeDakis, a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Cynthia, a choral conductor. They have three grown children. For more information on journalism and trauma, visit the Dart Center -- www.dartcenter.org |
"Sometimes,
in order to find purpose for the future, you need to unravel the
mystery of the past." 
