But her story wasn’t true.

New York Times bestselling author and Somerville resident Robin Gaby Fisher’s latest book “The Woman Who Wasn’t There” was published today and exposes Head’s lies and deceit.

Fisher, a Pultizer Prize winner and two-time Pulitzer feature writing finalist, has been working on the book for over a year.

The book explores the life of Head, a woman who had one of the most compelling tales of survival from the World Trade Center collapse during the 9/11 attack. Head went on to lead the 9/11 Survivors’ Network and make the group become a political powerhouse. She escorted former New York Rudy Guiliani, former Gov. George Pataki and New York mayor Mike Bloomberg on the inaugural tour of World Trade Center site.

She became the leader of the survivors at their greatest time of need and many of them considered their closest friend.

Head’s whole story was a hoax.

“So many people believed her, it was amazing,” said Fisher. “It is horrifying to me that she had the audacity to use 9/11 for her own benefit.”

Fisher worked on the book with Angelo J. Guglielmo, Jr., a filmmaker who was shooting a documentary on the efforts of the Survivors’ Network, and previously one of Tania’s closest friends. Guglielmo’s documentary film premiers on the Innovation Discovery channel on April 17 at 8 p.m.

“I made a connection with fabulous people – the 9/11 survivors,” said Fisher. “Every story that I’ve done I’ve met special people. These people are real survivors, they are brave, forgiving, inspirational and they taught me a great lesson in human resilience.”

Today’s publication kicks off a busy schedule of publicity for Fisher. She started the day with a two-hour national radio interview broadcast over Sirrus XM, she will be on NBC’s Today Show Thursday morning between 8 and 9 a.m. and at New York’s Strand Bookstore for a talk, reading and book signing that night. Monday morning she will be on the Fox News Network national morning show Fox and Friends.

NPR will have an interview with Fisher on their All Things Considered program starting Saturday.

The book, published by the Touchstone division of Simon & Schuster, is Fisher’s third major book following her New York Times bestseller “After The Fire” and “The Boys of the Dark.” It is available at most bookstores including Barnes & Noble and the Clinton Book Shop and online at Amazon.com. Electronic versions are available for iPad, Kindle and Nook.

Fisher started her journalism career as a reporter at the Courier News and then worked at the Star-Ledger in Newark where she was part of the Pulitzer Prize winning team covering the downfall of former NJ governor Jim McGreevey. She was a Pulitzer finalist in feature writing for her series “After the Fire” and “Last Chance High.” She now heads the journalism department at Rutgers University in Newark.

Fisher lives in Somerville with her husband Loren.

From SomervilleToday.com

Mud season in Promfret, Vt.

They there are six seasons in Vermont. You have spring, summer, fall, then there is stick season after the leaves fall and before the snow arrives to start winter. After winter and before spring is mud season. That’s when the snow is melting and the frost is leaving the ground.

The dirt roads become an adventure. If you live on one, you have to make sure your fuel oil tank is filled while the road are still frozen because heavy trucks are not allowed on the road during mud season.

I was out this afternoon seeing what critters might be around. The roads weren’t too bad, they were soft and rutted. The roads maintained by the township are designated with a “TH” like TH27. “TH” stands for Township Highway, which is pretty funny since they are the some of the smallest roads you will ever drive.

I was on one in Promfret that was barely wide enough for two cars to pass. I went through several rutted areas and pulled up on a large mud pit. It was the width of the road and at least 50 yards long. The ruts looked to be axle deep, so I figured I better put the Jeep into 4-wheel-drive. As I headed into the mudpit a pickup truck approached from the other direction. He stopped at the end of the pit since I was sliding and slipping my way through the mud.

The Jeep handled the mud well, the wheels spun a bit but it didn’t take long to get through it. When I got to the other side, I noticed there were three people sitting in the pickup truck. They all were grinning and the driver had a huge smile. He gave me a thumbs up and headed into the mud. I’m guessing they were betting on whether I made it through the mud and the driver won.

The support arches are still standing on the Taftsville Covered Bridge in Woodstock, Vt.

Last fall when Hurricane Irene made its way to Vermont, it did an amazing amount of damage. One of the victims was the Taftsville Covered Bridge in Woodstock. The bridge is two spans and 189 feet long and the Ottauquechee River came up to the deck during the flood and damaged the bridge and supports. The bridge was scheduled for repairs next year, so they decided to get to work on it early. The entire deck and cover has been removed on half of the bridge while the abutments and deck are repaired. Work will take about two years.

An otter peeks through ice in Woodstock, Vt.

At first light I headed out to see how Vermont looked after five inches of snow fell overnight. The short answer: beautiful. As I was heading out of the village, I looked down at a small pond that had a few holes in the ice. I noticed something dark moving in one of the holes, so I pulled over. Another something was moving and my brain registered I was seeing a couple of otters playing in the water.

I hopped out of my Jeep with my telephoto lens and tripod. Even though I was 100 yards away and up a hill, the otters weren’t thrilled with my presence. They craned their necks to get a better view of me and then dropped back into the water. One would pop up out of another hole, take a quick look at me and go back under the ice. Even though I stayed right by the Jeep, I was in their comfort zone. I thought if I hung out for a while they would realize I wasn’t a threat. After 3o minutes and no sightings, and strong winds trying to blow me over, I headed off to enjoy the beauty of the day.

Trees on a hillside in Woodstock, Vt.

Wind blows snow around ice fishermen on Silver Lake in Barnard, Vt.

Snow falls on the Middle Bridge in Woodstock, Vt.

It has snowed a few times in Vermont this winter, just not when I’ve been here. This afternoon it started and I’m excited. I went to the covered bridge in the village at dusk and shot as the darkness set in and the snow fell. I wanted to get a shot of car headlights illuminating the inside of the bridge, so I stood in the cold snow. I started by doing wide angle shots and I didn’t like the way it looked, even when a car came through. So I backed off and got out the 70-200 and waited for another car to come through.

As I was standing in the snow with my umbrella protecting my camera, I thought I felt something hit my foot. I looked down and saw something in the snow about the size of a pen. I couldn’t think of anything that I had on me like that so I kicked it around a little and tried to figure out what it was. While messing around, I looked up and car was coming out of the bridge. Damn. After 45 minutes, I was rather cold and I’d only seen one car come through and I missed it.

I usually prefer “night” shots to be done just before it is truly dark outside, so there is still some light in the sky to give some separation between my subject and the background. In my earlier shots, I couldn’t give them enough exposure to see inside the bridge since no cars came through.

So there is always tomorrow night and hopefully there will be more snow.

Two horses bask in the morning sun.

The fall foliage season is strange this year in Vermont. Some areas had two peaks of color, some none. I drove from Woodstock to Addison looking for color along the way. The leaves are down in Killington but just peaking in the Castleton area only 20 miles away, but a much lower elevation. But the weather wasn’t very good, lots of spots of rain.

Earlier in South Woodstock I came across this little barn with a couple of horses out front. I like the way the sun came across the horses and the barn. The satellite dish was an extra touch.

Fog hangs in the hills before sunrise in Woodstock, Vt.

This weekend is usually peak season for fall foliage around the Woodstock, Vt. area but things are running behind schedule this year. Most trees are still green and some just lost their leaves without a colorful fight. At least the weather is great this weekend, last week it was nothing but steady rain. I wandered out before sunrise today and went past Billings Farm before heading along the Ottauquechee River and then through Hartland.

This time of year there usually is a ground fog before the sun comes up and burns it off, and as I headed past Billings, I saw a couple of horses in a field. It was well before sunrise, so the sky was pink as I jumped out of the Jeep and grabbed a camera and tripod. By the time I got set up, the pink was gone but the fog hung in the hills behind the horses.

Early morning in Hartland, Vt.

I went to a hill in Hartland I’ve been several times for sunrise. The vista extends well into New Hampshire and the fog comes off the Connecticut River and filters through the hills. Today I didn’t make my favorite image from that spot, but I like the backlit fog as the sun comes up.

Fog engulfs at house at Billings Farm National Park in Woodstock, Vt.

The week before Columbus Day is usually a great time for fall foliage in Vermont. Not this year. I started in the central part of the state, where it is green, and drove north to within a few miles of the Canadian border, where it is green. Last year it was spectacular this weekend, especially in the Northeast Kingdom but 2011 is proving to be a late year.

Since there wasn’t the normal color, I had to aim for something different. This morning there was a nice bank of fog at sunrise in Woodstock, so I made a couple of nice pictures at Billings Farm, which in Vermont’s only National Park. I really liked the way the light and fog engulfed the house.

Flood waters from Tropical Storm Irene floated the Bowers covered bridge 100 yards down the Mill Brook in West Windsor, Vt. The bridge was heavily damaged but should be moved back to its original position. Photo by Loren Fisher (Loren Fisher)

I have been photographing the covered bridges of Vermont for the last five years and been to all of them, most several times. I hope to have a book out next year featuring all the bridges. One of my favorites is Bowers, a little 48-feet-long bridge over the Mill Brook in West Windsor. The bridge sits down in a ravine with a gravel road heading up hills on both sides. A house up the hill on the south side has a large yard that leads down to the brook and they always have chairs sitting down by the water. I always imagine ending a hard day sitting the chairs, listening to the brook and enjoying the bridge.

Tropical storm Irene dumped a ton of water in the region and the brook washed away the abutment to the bridge. The bridge fell into the swollen brook and floated a little over 100 yards downstream to where the brook made a turn. The bridge whacked several trees and lodged against several trees. When the brook went down, the bridge settled onto the bank, still intact.

There is a lot of damage to the upper portion of the bridge but the trusses look pretty solid. The upper part of the covered bridges were meant to be replaced, so that isn’t a big deal, but getting it back to the site will be a chore.

I’ve read stories about bridges being swept away in the old days and the townspeople went right out and floated it back to where it belongs. I would have loved to see that, I hope I can be there when they get the big machinery to pick up Bowers and put it back.

See more photos of the Bowers Covered bridge damaged by tropical storm Irene.

Bowers covered bridge 100 survived a trip down the Mill Brook in West Windsor, Vt. Photo by Loren Fisher

The Ottauquechee River can be seen through the damaged wall of the Ottauquechee Real Estate office in Quechee, Vt. The building was destroyed by flood waters from Tropical Storm Irene. Photo by Loren Fisher (Loren Fisher/LorenPhotos.com)

I went over to Quechee, Vt. to see the damage to the town and covered bridge. I had seen video of water coming into the end of the bridge and couldn’t imagine how that could happen since the bridge is at least 50 feet above the river bed, just downstream from a dam. The water came over the edge of the dam and along a concrete wall and walkway then washed out the abutment and end of the bridge. A real estate office at the end of the bridge was also demolished.

See more photos of the damage caused by tropical storm Irene.

The Ottauquechee covered bridge over Ottauquechee River in Quechee, Vt., was damaged by flood waters from Tropical Storm Irene. The Ottauquechee Real Estate office on the right was destroyed by the storm. Photo by Loren Fisher (Loren Fisher/LorenPhotos.com)

The White Cottage restaurant in Woodstock, VT, was destroyed by water from the Ottauquechee River after Tropical Storm Irene. (Loren Fisher, www.LorenPhotos.com)

The damage done by tropical storm Irene in Vermont is really hard to imagine. Nearly every road in the lower third of the state was damaged. Washouts were everywhere. A man replacing my water heater told me about watching two houses float down a stream that usually has less than a foot of water. The houses hit a bridge and were knocked into splinters. Woodstock was hit hard, some houses along the Ottauquechee River lost over 100 feet of yard before being swamped. Businesses along Route 4 in West Woodstock had the river running through them.

See more photos of tropical storm Irene damage.

Water flowed off our property and washed out the street.

After making it through Hurricane Irene and getting back to the routine of work yesterday, we got a call that our house in Vermont had a small river running through the yard and the basement was full of water. I started the five-hour drive north and immediately had to make detours. I-287 in NJ was washed out and so were many other roads on the way. There was only one road open into Woodstock, Vt., Route 4 from the east. Later I learned that nearly every road in the southern half of the state had major damage.

On our property there is a small brook that runs into a drainage culvert and it was plugged. Massive amounts of water came over the top and washed out our driveway and filled the basement. The water was still flowing through the yard when I arrived Monday night and I was able to open another plugged drain and divert the water away from the house.

We were lucky that we only had a couple of trees come down and need to replace the water heater, service the furnance and rebuild the driveway.

Juan "JC" Correa of Somerville and his daughter Kaylin look at the flooding on Cliff St.

It was strange sitting around listening to the police scanner as Hurricane Irene roared through New Jersey. Most of the heavy wind and rain was overnight, and it didn’t keep me awake. In the morning I started monitoring and reporting on my Somerville NJ news site, SomervilleToday.com and then headed out to photograph the damage. Flood waters were at near record heights, so I headed to the normal flood areas and places that don’t normally flood.

There are lots more photos at SomervilleToday.com

The street sign for 5th St. barely sticks out of the water.

Clouds hang over Quechee Gorge in Vermont.

Today was one of those rainy days that don’t make for great photos, unless you’re looking to make a rainy-day photo. I was going past Quechee Gorge and saw the clouds hanging over the gorge. Route 4, the main east-west highway in central Vermont, goes over the state’s deepest gorge so I parked the Jeep and walked out on the bridge. It is 165 feet down to the water from the bridge and not for people who get queasy from heights.

A beaver swims in a pond in Barnard, Vt.

I drove back past where I photographed the bull moose yesterday, just hoping he might still be hanging around. He wasn’t. So I went to a beaver pond near Barnard, Vt., about a mile away. I photographed some cedar wax wings flying around the trees. I hung out for about an hour and a half but there wasn’t much going on. On the road I saw a candy wrapper, so I walked over to pick it up. I looked at the pond and beaver was swimming toward me. I went back to the Jeep to get the camera, but I feared my movement might scare it. The beaver turned around and twacked the water with its tail. I thought I was done, but it kept swimming around. It came closer to me and didn’t mind my presence. As it was going back and forth another one appeared. They both swam around in front of me for a while but I was blocked from clear shots by branches and weeds. They would pop into the open and I got a few shots I like.

A bull moese heads for the trees in Pomfret. Vt.

I was driving through Pomfret, Vt., with Robin and our friends Jayne and Frank when Frank yelled, “There’s a moose!” Yea right, I’ve been constantly looking for moose for the last four years. Vermont is packed with “Moose Crossing” road signs but I am certain they were put up by the department of tourism. The signs are everywhere but the moose must be able to read them because the moose are never near the signs. In fact, they don’t even have pictures of moose on the signs like they do for deer, people or cattle, just the words, so I don’t think the Vermont department of tourist knows what they look like.

So there we are, cruising along with Frank yelling MOOSE!!! and I could tell he wasn’t joking. So I turned the Jeep around quickly and got back to the field where Frank got excited. Sure enough, standing in a little meadow was a big bull moose grazing on the grass. I pulled off the road and the moose looked at us and started to wander up the hill. I ran to the back of the Jeep and grabbed my camera and fired plenty of shots as Bullwinkle trotted off into the trees.

Rain pours on leaves and vines along Peter's Brook in Somerville, NJ. Click on the photo to buy a print.

When I was a kid and it started to rain, I’d run outside and wait for the water to roll down the street. We lived at the bottom of a small hill and in our little town there weren’t any curbs or storm drains. So when the rain began, I’d run out in the street and start moving dirt to make a dam to capture the water as it started flowing down the hill. When you’re a kid in a town of 300 people, you have to work hard to find entertainment. But it gave me an enjoyment for rain.

Today was about as rainy a day as they come. It rained hard all night, waking me up several times. After sitting around for a while, I decided to put on some old boots, grab my raincoat and umbrella and head out in the rain.

I put my macro on, stuck the camera under my raincoat and swung my tripod over my shoulder and walked over to a local park along Peter’s Brook. The rain was coming down pretty steady, so I sat under the umbrella by the broke, which was running fast after all the rain.

I tried some shots of leaves overlapping each other. The wind and long exposures made the images blurry so I moved father down the brook. I saw some fine yellow vine wrapping around some large leaves at the edge of the brook. A couple of the leaves were bright red.

I really liked the way the rain made the green, yellow and red colors shine.

As I was walking back home, I saw a large sycamore leaf laying in the grass. It looked like a leaf in October not what I usually see in August. It was fun to see all the color this time of year, so I wrestled with my umbrella to keep the camera dry and shot a bunch of close-up shots to show the detail of the color and the leaf’s veins.

By the time I got home, I was pretty much soaked. But I kept my camera under my rain coat and an extra lens in a plastic bag, so they were dry.

A sycamore leaf changed color in August this year. Click on the photo to buy a print.

Lightning lights up the sky over Wrigtsville Beach, NC.

lightning lit up the sky.

This year was pretty hot too. I was shooting for Middle Earth, the non-profit agency that helps kids and does most of the work to put on the race. Having photographed the race so many times, I’m always challenging myself to get a different shot. One year I shot most of the race with a 4X5 camera. Interesting, but I only needed to do that once. I always like when the 100+ riders line up for the start of the pro race. There are lots of faces, some tense, some relaxed but they are always rearing to go. I thought it would be nice to get a high angle on the riders and have the big banner that goes across the street. So I put my camera on the end of my monopod with a 16mm lens and did a Hail Mary shot from about 11 feet high. It would be fun to get that shot while they are riding away, but the riders would be happy to run me over.

Bare trees are reflected in a pond as new spring green leaves sprout.

Today wasn’t a beautiful day but I wanted to celebrate Earth Day by being sure to get out and spend some time in the great outdoors. I went to Lord Stirling Park, which is a large county park adjacent to the Great Swamp National Wildlife refuge. The swamp isn’t too pretty this time of year, it is a swamp, after all. With all the rain, the grass is brilliant green contrasted against the dark, swampy water. I was fascinated with the way the trees were reflecting in the water as a few blades of grass stuck out of the pond.

Early morning shadows fall across the deep snow in Woodstock, Vt.

It got down to 11 degrees overnight, which is quite a shift from the 75 degrees when I left New Jersey on Friday. The cold usually means clear skies and the morning light was gorgeous, creating shadows in the snow.

Morning rain drops cover a red rose

Grover Sanschagrin at PhotoShelter selected one of my photos for his blog post 10 Cool Photos of Water Drops. Thanks Grover!

2010 favorites – Images by Loren Fisher

A boardwalk is covered with frost in Lord Stirling park.

Since I couldn’t get into Lord Stirling park in Bernards, NJ, yesterday as the deer herd was being thinned, I headed back at sunrise to see what was around. I hoped there would be some leaves left on the trees, but they are mostly bare. The leaves on the ground didn’t look too great, the color is gone and the frost this morning was very light. There are lots of boardwalks in the park and some frost on one of them made a nice contrast with the warm sunlight.

The sunrise is reflected in the swamp at Lord Stirling park.

I always enjoy seeing the sunrise hitting trees in the swampy part of the park. The water is dark and nicely reflects whatever is being hit by the sunlight. It can look really nice when colorful leaves are floating but  today I saw only brown oak leaves.

Frost covers a leaf at Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary.

This morning I thought it would be good to go to Lord Stirling Park in Basking Ridge, NJ, which is adjacent to the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.  They are essentially the same place, they are only separated by the Passaic River and a different name. I got there while it was still fairly dark, taking advantage of the last day of daylight savings time. Now I have to get up an hour earlier to see the sun rise. I got out of the Jeep and saw a sign that said Trails Closed and then a rope across the main trail. Hanging off the rope was a little sign saying something about deer management. In other words hunters were in there culling the herd. So I thought I’d just go over to the NWR, I still had plenty of time before the sun came up. Of course, only hunters were allowed. I’m sure I could have found a trail in but a bored hunter might take a shot for fun.

Mist rises from a waterfalls at Lendells Pond in Mendham, NJ.

I understand the need to hold down the deer population. There are too many and when there is a tough winter, there won’t be enough food for them to sustain themselves. They are changing the landscape, you can see a browse line at their head height in any woods in the area. Many people complain about the deer eating their scrubs, I don’t care about that, but no new growth is happening because the deer eat tree saplings before they have a chance to grow. But I hate having the image in my head of a deer being shot by an arrow and then running in pain for however long it takes for the deer to bleed to death. I guess that is better than starving to death.

So I went over to the Audubon Society’s place, which is only a few miles away. They didn’t have any hunters but I was there before they opened the gate. So I drove around the property and came upon a water falls at the end of Ledells Pond in Mendham. It seems like I have been shooting lots of waterfalls lately but it looked good as the mist rose.

I went back over to the Audubon sanctuary and while I was driving around I saw three large bucks. I couldn’t tell if they were in the rut or scared by the hunters, but they looked nervous. Hopefully they didn’t stroll under a hunter’s tree stand.

Frost covers the edges of a leaf.

This morning was rather chilly, in the low 30′s when I hit the road before sunrise. I wandered back to Colonial Park in Franklin, NJ, and was happily greeted by a light frost on the ground. I enjoy getting down on the ground with my macro lens to shoot close-up shots of frosty things, especially colorful leaves.

Frost is melted off a leaf by the morning sun.

I had my tripod splayed out and I was on my knees hovering over the camera and concentrating rather hard on getting the angle I wanted as the rising sunlight swept across a leaf. I heard a little noise and I was rather startled to see a man standing nearby with his dog. I was in a part of the park that doesn’t get a lot of foot traffic, so this was the only person I had seen. As I looked up, the man was a little startled too. “I don’t see someone on the ground very often, I came over to make sure you were OK,” he said. I laughed and thanked him for his concern, I guess I did look like a blob of humanity on the ground. It was nice that he took the time to check on me.

The rising sun shines through the blades of a plant.

After my old knees didn’t want to be on the ground any longer, I noticed the sun shining through some long leaves along a fence in the formal garden. I liked the way the light interacted with the blades and created a highlight on the edges.

A black-crowned night heron waits for prey.

At sunrise today I was wandering around Colonial Park, in Franklin, NJ. I wasn’t feeling it, I was having real trouble finding a picture I liked even though it was a beautiful morning. The light and what little colorful foliage that is still around didn’t come together for me. I was about to give up and I was headed back to my car when I saw a bird with long legs land beside a pond. I didn’t recognize the bird, so I tried to get closer. I couldn’t see it in the reeds and grass along the pond and it flew about 20 feet away. I didn’t have my long lens so I went to the car and go it.

A black-crowned night heron shakes off the morning dew.

When I came back, the bird hadn’t moved but the lighting was really bad on it. The only way to get good light was to be in the middle of the pond, and that wasn’t happening. So I crept up on it and made some shots. I thought it might be a green heron, but it wasn’t big enough. It just sat there staring into the water, it didn’t move. I still didn’t know what I was shooting, but it stuck its neck out real long and then shook off before taking flight. I went through my bird book and looked online when I got home and I think it is an immature black-crowned night heron. Let me know if I’m right or wrong.

The sun shines through yellow leaves.

I headed over to Duke Island Park in Bridgewater, NJ for another autumn sunrise. I was hoping there would be mist rising from the pond or river, but it wasn’t there. There wasn’t a whole lot going on, just some pretty yellow maple leaves hanging by the river.

A tree full of bright leaves.

I walked back to the pond where a tree full of red leaves was screaming at me. I got up close with my wide angle lens and I like the way the leaves are stretching toward me.

Orange leaves in Bridgewater.

I then tried some close-up shots of leaves on the tree.

Tailgaters pack the hillside at the Far Hills Race Meeting.

Today was my annual helicopter flight over the Far Hills Race Meeting in Far Hills, NJ. The race meeting is steeplechase horse races on a large farm where 30,000 people pack onto the hillside and infield area and kinda watch the horses run. The main purpose of the event is to raise money for a local hospital and for people to consume too much alcohol and show off their riches. The tailgating event draws the high-end crowd, people bring their Rolls-Royces and have large catered parties, complete with ice sculptures, the finest wine and food.

I’ve been photographing the party from the air for at least the last 15 years for the organization that puts on the event. I started in a little Robinson helicopter that I barely fit in, then for many years I chartered a Bell Jet Ranger out of Princeton. It was my favorite, they’d take the door off and I would wear a climbing harness and hang out the side. It was fun and expensive. Last year they found a local guy with a helicopter who donated the ride, which saved lots of money. I rode in that one again this year, it is a six-seat Bell 470. The original owner had the interior done in leather to match his Porsche. It is really nice but I can’t ask them to take the door off and risk something flying in and ripping up the leather. So I just slide open a little window and shoot through there.

A barn in a Bedminster, NJ, field.