To Sleep with the Angels by David Cowan
If burying a child has a special poignancy, the tragedy at a Catholic elementary school in Chicago almost forty years ago was an extraordinary moment of grief. One of the deadliest fires in American history, it took the lives of ninety-two children and three nuns at Our Lady of the Angels School, left many families physically and psychologically scarred for life, and destroyed a close-knit working-class neighborhood. This is the moving story of that fire and its consequences written by two journalists who have been obsessed with the events of that terrible day in December 1958. It is a story of ordinary people caught up in a disaster that shocked the nation. In gripping detail, those who were there-children, teachers, firefighters-describe the fear, desperation, and panic that prevailed in and around the stricken school building on that cold Monday afternoon. But beyond the flames, the story of the fire at Our Lady of the Angels became an enigma whose mystery has deepened with time: its cause was never officially explained despite evidence that it had been intentionally set by a troubled student at the school. The fire led to a complete overhaul of fire safety standards for American schools, but it left a community torn apart by grief and anger, and accusations that the Catholic church and city fathers had shielded the truth. Messrs. Cowan and Kuenster have recreated this tragedy in a powerful narrative with all the elements of a first-rate detective story.
A journalistic account of tragedy..haunting and honest. -- Dominic A. Pacyga * Journal of American History *
Gripping...even today there stands no memorial to those who died, perhaps this beautiful remembrance can be that memorial. -- Georgie Anne Geyer, author and syndicated columnist
A fascinating read about an American tragedy that never should be forgotten. -- Mike Royko * Chicago Tribune *
Detailed reporting and straightforward writing...an absorbing account. -- Peggy Constantine * The New York Times *
Every parent, teacher, and school administrator should read this story of a tragic loss of life. -- Hal Bruno * ABC News *
Gripping...even today there stands no memorial to those who died, perhaps this beautiful remembrance can be that memorial. -- Georgie Anne Geyer, author and syndicated columnist
A fascinating read about an American tragedy that never should be forgotten. -- Mike Royko * Chicago Tribune *
Detailed reporting and straightforward writing...an absorbing account. -- Peggy Constantine * The New York Times *
Every parent, teacher, and school administrator should read this story of a tragic loss of life. -- Hal Bruno * ABC News *
David Cowan has been a newspaper reporter in Illinois and is now a fireman and independent journalist who lives in the Chicago area. John Kuenster is executive editor of Century Publishing Company in Evanston, Illinois, and a former staff writer and columnist for the Chicago Daily News.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781566632171 |
| ISBN 10 | 156663217X |
| Title | To Sleep with the Angels |
| Author | David Cowan |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Ivan R Dee, Inc |
| Year published | 1998-10-01 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |