Moments ago, close to midnight, I sat on my couch raptly reading one of the many  gripping responses to our most recent Open Call when there was a small knock on my front door that had me leaping out of my seat, my skin, and sending a drink flying into another room. It was the building's most colorful resident, asking rather spookily if I had any "papers" she could borrow. I don't know what she meant, but I don't think she wanted a Times or a Journal. I politely said no, then closed and double-locked the door.

The responses to our question -- Tell us about your brush with death -- have been terrifying, heart-breaking, haunting and, at times, very funny. And they've left me downright rattled. (We've highlighted a bunch on the cover, but the entire group is worth surfing through.) There hasn't been a question that has prompted this sort of a response before, and I sincerely thank everyone for sharing what are, at times, intensely personal stories. I hope publishing them proves as meaningful to you as they doubtlessly will be to others who read them.

It takes a lot of courage to tell your story, and I think in a culture of seedy tell-alls and fake memoirs, people can take it for granted. We don't.