Holy Cross Historian is Expert on New York's Forgotten Disaster: Deadliest Day Before Sept. 11

WORCESTER, Mass. – Will New Yorkers Ever Forget Sept. 11? They did forget June 15, 1904, the day 1, 021 of New York's Lower East Side residents perished when a fire on the General Slocum forced the passengers into the water.

As the second anniversary of Sept. 11 approaches, Holy Cross historian Edward O'Donnell's new book, Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum, brings to light a story virtually unknown to most Americans and addresses such questions as: Why do so few people know of the General Slocum tragedy that claimed more than a thousand lives? Why did this event fail to achieve the infamy of the Titanic's 1912 demise or the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire? What does this say about the future memory of Sept. 11?

O'Donnell is currently on book tour in cities such as New York, Boston, and Washington, DC and is available for interviews, both in-studio and via phone. He has extensive media experience and is a former Morning Edition commentator for NPR member station WNYC. A demo video featuring some of his media clips is available upon request.

About the Slocum Disaster:

* On June 15, 1904, more than 1,000 New Yorkers perished when their steamboat burst into flames on the East River. Most victims were women and children bound for a weekday church excursion to a Long Island Sound picnic ground. A panicked and untrained crew, coupled with rotten life preservers and inaccessible life boats, turned a small storage room fire into a human tragedy of immense proportions. Later, as evidence of negligence and corruption on the part of the steamer's owners mounted, sympathy turned to outrage and demands for justice that were never fully met. * Incredibly, there is one survivor still alive. Adella Wotherspoon, now age 99, was just six months old at the time of the fire. Her two older sisters died, but her parents survived. She lives in New Jersey, is sharp as a tack, and still gives interviews. * Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum was contracted by Random House seven months before Sept. 11 and was pitched as the worst disaster in NYC history. O'Donnell, who lost several friends in the attacks on Sept. 11, found his approach to the story utterly changed by the event.

Praise for Ship Ablaze:

Clive Cussler, maritime explorer and author, recently wrote of the book: "The Slocum always held a fascination for me, and it was a thrill to find her scattered remains off New Jersey in 2000. O'Donnell provides a dramatic and compelling narrative of New York's saddest tragedy before 9/11. It's a fascinating probe into the inferno that killed hundreds of women and children, and O'Donnell does a spellbinding job of making the calamity come alive."

Publisher's Weekly recently wrote of the book: "In O'Donnell's deft hands the disaster becomes more than just a historical event -- it's a fascinating window into an era, a community and the lives of ordinary people" (May 5, 2003).

Booklist (starred review) recently wrote of the book: "Even relative to other disaster books, O'Donnell does an amazing job of illustrating the human side; it does not feel like printed history, but rather a terrible scene that has just unfolded in front of the reader." (May 2003).

O'Donnell may be contacted by phone at 508.793.3730 (day), 508.826.1572 (evening) or by e-mail at eodonnel@holycross.edu. You may also visit O'Donnell's Web site, www.general-slocum.com, where you will find more than 50 pictures, an excerpt of the book, and many related documents.