"The Burning of the World" by Scott W. Berg (2023)

 So much has been written about the Chicago Fire that one would think the topic to be exhausted. Not so. In the hands of Scott Berg the event is explored in a new and ingenious way. There was no Mrs. O'Leary milking her cow. There was a Mrs. Leary, but the fire began at 9 PM, hours after the cow had been milked. There was no lantern for the cow to kick over.

The night before there had been a large fire known as the "Red Flash" fire to the North of where the Leary's lived on DeCoven Street between Jefferson and Clinton. An unseasonably warm October had made the city of mostly wood frame houses a veritable tinderbox, just waiting to be touched off. Most of the Fire Brigades were on stand down from the fire the night before.

What really caused a single dwelling fire to burn so quickly out of control was a combination of an error on the part of the city's fire watch, perched atop the City Hall. Combined with a high South westerly wind which blew flaming embers from DeCoven Street further and further from the point of origin, the fire was quickly out of control. It would burn for 2 days, beginning at 9 PM on the night of October 8th, 1871. 

The book is filled with all the heroics of every disasterous fire, even as the Chicago River, coming off Lake Michigan, boiled. But the real genius of this book is in what happened after the fire. In the age of the telegraph the news spread quickly. And in the age of train travel, fire companies from every state around came by train, each loaded with firefighters and their equipment. 

Within another 48 hours financial aid came pouring in. The "Friends", Quakers from Cincinnati, donated $100,000, providing enough pre cooked soup to feed the city for years if necessary. From this point on the book becomes a tale of what happened next. The political jockeying for the soul of the city was underway. It would wage for over a year, through a winter and an election. 

That election gave way to a Temperance movement and a struggle over "blue laws" to close saloons on Sunday's. No matter that beer and liquor had nothing to do with the fire, the Temperance League saw an opening, and the battle was set.

The big players in this drama were Joseph Medill, the owner of the Chicago Tribune, who became the next Mayor. There was even a new political party formed; the Union-Fireproof Party. The commercial rebuilding began with Marshall Field, owner of the legendary department store. The results were a division between those who wanted to rebuild only in brick rather than wood; setting off an economic clash between the working class, who favored wood as more affordable, and the more well to do, who wanted new fire limits in which buildings would only be of brick. . 

All in all this is an exciting new look at the story of the Great Chicago Fire. That it comes from the pen of Scott Berg should come as no surprise.

The Perfect Family

When we lived in Hampstead, Maryland; which is about 25 miles to the northwest of Baltimore; we lived next to the “perfect” family. It used to drive me nuts, seeing them trim the lawn together while I couldn't get my own kids to pitch in with the chores without resorting to out and out violence.

When it snowed the entire family; which consisted of “Fran” and “Vincent”, along with their two children; a daughter by her previous marriage and an infant son which they had together, all shoveled the driveway. Now, my own family was of a similar make up; with Sue’s two sons from her first marriage and an infant daughter of our own; so I was a bit miffed at what I perceived to be the better performance by my counterpart in the enemy camp; Vincent.

How was he able to pull off such feats as getting the family to do what they needed to do? And, further to my amazement, all of this was accomplished without the yelling and fighting which was kind of normal in our home.

I mean, this guy, when he washed his cars the whole family was out there. I washed ours alone. He had his infant son toddling after him with a toy mower when he did the lawn, my kids couldn't have cared less. And when the skies deposited 18 inches of snow one January day, they pulled their kids on a sled into town and had snowball fights on the front lawn. My own children were glued to an Atari game.

Their family even grocery shopped together! It drove me mad. Until one day when I noticed that “Fran” was often to be seen in the parking lot of the local Shell station talking for hours with the local policeman; we only had one in the town at the time; or with some of the many young volunteer firefighters. You couldn't swear that there was anything untoward about this behavior, but at the same time it did seem odd.

Time passed; we lived in that house for 11 years; and we had seen 2 different neighbors come and go before “Vincent” and “Fran”. Little did we know that we would soon be seeing them depart as well. The signs were there; the family was not out as often together, and “Vincent” seemed to be spending more and more nights working late at the office. Gone was his joyful demeanor, replaced with a grim resignation to do his duty as a parent to his children.

Where was “Fran”? The lovely neighbor next door had moved in with one of the young firefighters, initially even taking her 14 year old daughter with her! “Vincent” put a stop to that and soon was raising both kids by himself, while “Fran” was making the rounds of the local firefighters.

I don't know whatever happened to them , or the children. But I do know that my impression of my own family changed as a result of the incident, and I found myself more and more content with my own "imperfect" wife and children.

"Chicago Fire" - First Season (2011)

I was a little hesitant to watch this series at first, fearing it would be a pale imitation of “Rescue Me”, the groundbreaking series with Denis Leary. Glad I didn't listen to myself on that score, as “Chicago Fire” has Rescue Me” beat by a mile on several fronts. Some of the story lines may be almost identical, but the emphasis in this series is more on the disaster relief and firefighting than on extramarital affairs and drinking.

To be sure, the men and women in this series all have their own set of flaws, but they are represented in a more realistic matter. Another aspect of this show which I enjoy is that the women are not all pieces of meat as they were in other series. The women firefighters and rescue personnel are all portrayed as competent and yet still are allowed to maintain their femininity and dignity. That’s not to say that there isn't a bit of fooling around going on here. If you’re worried about that, don’t be.

The subject of Gay and Lesbian firefighters is not ignored either, with one of the main characters on the rescue squad openly gay and close friends with her partner, who is straight. The show is actually pretty realistic in its portrayal of people who have different lifestyles working together.

The story lines are provocative and realistic as well. From the relationships with the community, to the animosity between the Fire Department and the Police, the shows ring true. I was surprised to discover that this show is not on cable, but on a major network, and available even to those who only have “rabbit ear” antennas.

It’s hard to find new series which I really enjoy watching on a steady basis, so this one was a pleasant surprise. As usual I found it in the library before I even knew it was a television show. I stopped channel surfing about 5 years ago, and haven’t looked at a TV page in the same amount of time.

Tight direction and cinematography, along with believable character development; and coupled with good writing; all combine to make this show worth watching.

"Black Fire" by Robert Graysmith (2012)

When Mark Twain was living in San Francisco during the 1860’s, he became acquainted with a man named Tom Sawyer. That’s right; there really was a Tom Sawyer. And, as a bonus for me, he came from Brooklyn, New York.  Twain met Sawyer at the bath house run by Ed Stahle on Montgomery Street when the young Twain was working as a reporter for the Daily Morning Call. While in the bath house the two would play cards and swap tales. Mr. Sawyer’s adventures were so awe inspiring, and far ranging, that Twain never forgot about them, later incorporating them into his iconic book.

Robert Graysmith, author of several books, including “The Laughing Gorilla”, has done it again. He has taken on the subjects of Mark Twain, the history of San Francisco during the Gold Rush;  and all the characters of those heady days; weaving them together in a rollicking and highly entertaining fashion, to form this book.

The history of fire fighting in San Francisco is in many ways the same as in other cities of the time. Different private fire fighters competed with one another to be the first on the scene of a fire. There were pitched battles waged between these competitors, even while the fires raged, consuming the buildings the firemen were fighting so hard to protect. To make matters worse, there was no real building code to speak of, and houses were built of any available material, including oilcloth and canvas. Along with the wood used in almost every structure in town, the place was just waiting to burn down.

And burn it did; six times; between Christmas Eve of 1849 and the early summer of 1851. To help matters along there was an arsonist; or more than one; who may have even been a firefighter.  Mr. Sawyer’s gripping accounts of the battles waged by the competing fire companies, along with the complete indifference of both the populace and their elected officials to the formation of a Fire Department, would make this a great book all by itself. But, by exploring the relationship between Mark Twain and Tom Sawyer, the author has gone further in giving this book a special place in any collection.

In his usual, almost lyrical, fashion the author has given life to the cold hard facts of how many buildings were destroyed and how much it all cost in dollars. The description of the horror could only be described by one who not only lived it, but by someone who fought the blazes and ate the smoke.

Sawyer was a firefighter in New York before boarding a ship that took him around the horn of South America and on to San Francisco. He was, at times, a firefighter, a seaman, and eventually; playing upon the notoriety brought on by Mark Twain’s book; he became a very well-known saloon keeper.

Although the story of the real life existence of Tom Sawyer has been told before, it has always been a short footnote explaining that there really was a Tom Sawyer. And that’s about it. Mr. Graysmith is; I believe; the first author to seriously undertake the telling of the entire story of both Mr. Sawyer, and how his real life exploits came to inspire Mark Twain to write one of the most beloved American novels.