MARK GRAY IS OUR GUEST FOR A FASCINATING HOURThe Las Vegas Massacre Connections: Finding Strength Through Tragedy After America’s Deadliest Mass Shooting

An outstanding narrative of the shootings from journalist Mark Gray whose first-person account of the tragedy was published in Rolling Stone Magazine the day after the event.

When the Music Stopped, Her Life Changed Forever

On October 1, 2017, Mary Jo von Tillow's world changed forever.

Her husband, Kurt, was killed in the Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting in Las Vegas, the deadliest in U.S. history. In just eleven minutes, her life-and the lives of thousands of others-were shattered.

But what followed was more than grief. Out of devastation came unexpected bonds with other survivors, advocates, and families who knew the same kind of loss. From a 9/11 firefighter who turned his pain into kindness, to a victims' rights attorney who changed national law, to fellow widows and survivors who refused to give up, Mary Jo discovered what it means to carry tragedy together.

THE LAS VEGAS MASSACRE CONNECTIONS is both a deeply personal account and a collective portrait of resilience. Through Mark Gray's in-depth reporting and Mary Jo's courage to share her story, this book captures the enduring impact of Route 91 and the human strength that rises after unimaginable loss.

Mark Gray is a longtime writer for People Magazine and Rolling Stone. His work has also been published in Entertainment Weekly, MSN and Las Vegas Weekly, and his past interviews have been cited by the New York Times, Daily Mail, the New York Post, Yahoo!, the Los Angeles Times and more. His Flip The Strip radio show on KXNT Las Vegas garnered national press throughout its two-year run, and he pens a weekly sports gambling column for Station Casinos.

Mark wrote a first-person account of the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting (from his perspective) about three hours after the bullets stopped flying. It was posted on RollingStone.com in the early morning of Oct. 2, 2017. He’s written over 10,000 published articles as a journalist.

Filed Under: Biography and Memoir Books, New Releases, The Las Vegas Massacre Connections, True Crime BooksTagged With: america’s deadliest mass shooting, best true crime books, coping with loss books, gun violence memoir, healing after tragedy, inspirational survivor stories, las vegas massacre survivors, las vegas shooting book, las vegas true crime, mandalay bay massacre, mary jo von tillow, mass shooting connections, mass shooting survivor story, overcoming grief memoir, resilience after trauma, route 91 harvest festival, Serial Killer, survivor memoir, tragedy to triumph, True Crime, true crime book, true crime mass shootings, widow memoir
October 13, 2025 By Michael Cordova

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