Book '33 Men, Buried Alive' In The Works Inspired By Chilean Miners

According to the article below, the rescue of the Chilean miners is truly an inspirational story. In fact, it's already spawned a book, according to the Hollywood Reporter, '33 Men, Buried Alive: The Inside Story of the Trapped Chilean Miners' in the UK in early 2011. Also, the miners have been fielding offers for beer commercials and TV interviews, the latter potentially earning the men as much as $20,000.
       . . . June


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Chilean miners inspire book, separate mining reality show on its way
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The rescue of the Chilean miners is truly an inspirational story. In fact, it's already spawned a book, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Jonathan Franklin - a reporter covering the rescue saga for Britain's Guardian newspaper - is set to release the book '33 Men, Buried Alive: The Inside Story of the Trapped Chilean Miners' in the UK in early 2011. In addition, according to Broadcasting & Cable, the miners have been fielding offers for beer commercials and TV interviews, the latter potentially earning the men as much as $20,000.

One thing we know won't be happening, despite reports to the contrary: If there is a movie in the works about the rescue, as some speculate surely can't be far off, it won't be starring Javier Bardem. The actor's rep tells CNN, 'There is no truth to this rumor

And although a new Spike TV series won't feature Chilean miners, the network has announced that it's ordered up "Coal," a docu-series that chronicles the dangers of working in a West Virginia mine, according to a statement.

The show, which airs in April, will focus on Cobalt Mine co-owners Mike Crowder and Tom Roberts, as well as their fellow miners, and cover every aspect of their jobs, including planting explosives.

“Coal mining is an integral part of the American economy and the lifeblood of communities across the U.S. and the world,” said Sharon Levy, Spike TV's executive vice president of original series and animation, in a statement. “This series is going to shine a light on the brave men and women and their families who endure the rigors of this arduous profession.”

Execs at the network told THR that the show has been in development for nearly a year and that their timing is just a coincidence. “It didn’t take a tragedy, and then a miracle, to get us excited about this,” explains Sharon Levy, executive VP of original programming at Spike. “We’ve tapped into something that people are passionate about; this is a topic the world is interested in.”

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Trapped Chilean Miner Proposes To His Sweetheart

This is about as romantic as it gets! With the world watching, Esteban Rojes, buried deep underground in the collapsed Chilean mine, scribbled his proposal on a scrap of paper. “When I get out, let’s buy the dress and we’ll get married.”

Of course, the delighted bride-to-be- Jessica said "YES"
   . . . June

Trapped Chilean miner proposes to sweetheart
Mumbai Mirror: Posted On Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 04:23:35 AM
One of the 33 Chilean miners stuck deep underground awaiting rescue has popped the question to his childhood sweetheart in a handwritten note.


Romantic Esteban Rojas, 44, scribbled his proposal on a scrap of paper from where he is buried 700 metres underground.


In the note to Jessica Ganiez, he wrote: “When I get out, let’s buy the dress and we’ll get married.”


Trapped miners are receiving handwritten notes sent to them through three small bore holes.

On Sunday night, a delighted Jessica, 43, spoke of her joy at finally being asked to tie the knot after 25 years together. Speaking to Daily Mirror, she said: “I thought he was never going to ask me. We have talked about it before, but he never asked me. I think it is a good idea.”

She added: “I have tried to hint at it many times, but it never happened. He always said getting married is a once in a lifetime thing and he would ask me when the time is best. Obviously, what has happened has made him do it.”

The couple are registered civil partners but have never had a church wedding. Now Jessica has told friends and family she will set up a wedding gift register with a fridge and a cooker at the top of the list.

This week Jessica, who began dating Esteban in her teens, will get to speak him on the phone for the first time after a communication link was set up Sunday.

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Trapped Chilean Miners Face a Very Tough Ordeal

Being a miner has to be a hard enough job - going down into a mine, but when something like this happens, they're faced with a prolonged stay underground. Miners train for a lot of things, but it's hard to prepare for something like this. The article below tells more about their plight
    . . June


Trapped Chilean Miners Face a Tough Psychological Ordeal - Yahoo! News:

There's almost nothing about the plight of the Chilean miners trapped beneath nearly half a mile of rock in the Atacama Desert that doesn't horrify us. There's the crowding - 33 men confined in a 600-sq.-ft. safety chamber smaller than a one-bedroom apartment. There's the heat - a stagnant 90 degrees F relieved only by a thin trickle of fresh air that makes it down through a narrow ventilation pipe. There's the gloom - a near total blackness relieved only by the flashlights on the men's helmets. Worst of all, there's the calendar: the miners face up to four more months of such confinement before a rescue tunnel can be drilled and they can be pulled to safety. That kind of ordeal, we say, would drive any of us nuts - and we're right; it probably would.

Live entombment holds a particular terror for all human beings, and miners are no exception. They may habituate themselves to darkness and heat and very tight spaces, but when the system breaks down - when there's no prospect of re-emerging into the light after a 10-hour shift - their minds can break too. And the longer they're below, the worse the damage may be. (See how the miners survived the first 17 days of their ordeal.)

"Miners train for a lot of things, but it's hard to prepare for something like this," says Dennis O'Dell, director of occupational safety and health for the United Mine Workers of America and a veteran of 20 years in the mines himself. "They're taught first to have a route of escape. It's only when that fails that you have to think of taking shelter."

Chilean officials are being roundly criticized for the shabby state of the mine and the poor safety record that led to the Aug. 5 collapse - but they're also getting a lot of kudos for the way they've responded since, particularly the attention they've paid to the emotional welfare of the imprisoned men and their families. Ever since the miners were located after a 17-day search of the maze of subterranean shafts, officials have been reaching out to psychologists, family counselors and even NASA doctors, who know better than most about how people endure long periods of confinement far away from loved ones.

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