In 2011, author Norman McCombs stood outside the East Wing of the White House before receiving the National Medal of Technology from President Obama, he asked himself a simple question: How did I come from the circumstances of my birth to the steps of the White House? After losing his wife to a battle with Alzheimer’s, McCombs was left devastated until a chance encounter with a sharp, compassionate librarian named Suzy Hamilton on the steps of the New York Public Library shakes him from the throes of grief, and encourages him to research his ancestry. The result? A Reason To Be, his historical novel, a poignant tale of loss, hope and the transcendent power of the love that binds us to one another.