On a terrible day in December 1958, one of the deadliest fires in
American history took the lives of ninety-two children and three nuns at
Our Lady of the Angels school in Chicago. The tragedy shocked the
nation, tore apart a community with grief and anger, left many families
physically and psychologically scarred for life, and prompted a mystery
unresolved to this day. It also led to a complete overhaul of fire
safety standards for American schools. The story of that fire was
eloquently told ten years ago by John Kuenster and David Cowan in their
best-selling book To Sleep with the Angels. Now, on the fiftieth
anniversary of the fire, John Kuenster returns to talk with firemen,
parents, children, reporters, clergy, school administrators, and others
who were in some way connected with the disaster. Together their
thoughts and feelings about their experience, still vivid and tender
after a half-century, make Remembrances of the Angels a moving and often
tearful book.