A Reader in Adairsville Writes

Dear Mr. Goodwin,

I just wanted to thank you for writing such a wonderful book. The fire took place almost 30 years before I was born, but you made me feel as if I was there. It's no longer 2011, but 1946 again and you can almost feel the fear, smell the smoke, hear the sirens and see the horror.

I suspect that is what you and your co-author intended when you wrote the book. I have had it for about 6 months now and I've read it twice.

I live in Adairsville, Georgia, which is about 15 miles east of Rome and really enjoy reading books on Georgia history.

So often in tragedies, people just become numbers but you made sure that each person was given a name and the enormity and pain of their loss is evident. So many wonderful people died that day. It is a sad story, but one that needed to be told and should not be forgotten. You did a great job!

Thank you so much for teaching me about a part of history that I had not known before.

Melissa Alred