Celebrity News

Kidnap hero Jessica Buchanan honored

It’s not every day that a kidnap survivor rescued by a SEAL team ends up lunching with the power crowd at Michael’s in Midtown. But US aid worker Jessica Buchanan — who at 32 had been working in Nairobi, was hijacked on a mission and held at gunpoint for 93 days by Somali pirates — captivated a group of editors at a lunch hosted by Marie Claire Editor-in-Chief Anne Fulenwider. Buchanan, her husband, Erik Landemalm, and writer Anthony Flacco wrote the story of her ordeal in the new book “Impossible Odds.” MSNBC’s Chris Jansing, journalist Abigail Pesta and Atria Books president/publisher Judith Curr were among those joining the celebration. Buchanan, who fell ill during captivity but recovered shortly after her release, was rescued in January 2012 by the elite Navy Seal Team 6. She has since had a child, August, and moved back to the US.