Episode 4: Kelley Benham French

Kelley Benham French of the Tampa Bay Times wrote the three-part series “Never let go.” The story focuses on the birth of Juniper French, the daughter of Kelley and husband Tom French (as in Pulitzer Prize-winning Tom French). Juniper was born at 23 weeks, six days and weighed just one pound, four ounces at birth.

Since joining the podcast, Kelley teamed with husband Thomas French to write “Juniper: The girl who was born too soon.” The book was just released in September 2016, and is already getting rave reviews.

While written in the first-person, this story is not your typical piece of memoir. Benham reported the hell out of this story, starting with more than 7,000 pages of medical records and continuing on with extensive interviews with ever doctor, nurse and social worker involved in her daughter’s life.

French is now a professor of practice at the Indiana University Media School. She recently worked as the editor on Lane DeGregory’s piece, “The Long Fall of Phoebe Jonchuck,” which was featured in Episode 43 of the podcast.