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Goodbye Wifes and Daughters |  | Author: Susan Kushner Resnick
Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $15.21
as of 7/31/2010 18:15 MDT details
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Seller: sbd-
Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 461652
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 262
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.7 x 5.5 x 1
ISBN: 0803217846
Dewey Decimal Number: 978.6652032
EAN: 9780803217843
ASIN: 0803217846
Publication Date: March 1, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
One morning in 1943, close to eighty men descended into the Smith coal mine in Bearcreek, Montana. Only three came out alive. Goodbye wifes and daughters . . . wrote two of the miners as they died. The story of that tragic day and its aftermath unfolds in this book through the eyes of those wives and daughterswomen who lost their husbands, fathers, and sons, livelihoods, neighbors, and homes, yet managed to fight back and persevere. Susan Kushner Resnick has uncovered the story behind all those losses. She chronicles the missteps and questionable ethics of the mine s managers, who blamed their disregard for safety on the exigencies of World War II; the efforts of an earnest federal mine inspector and the mine union s president (later a notorious murderer), who tried in vain to make the mine safer; the heroism of the men who battled for nine days to rescue the trapped miners; and the effect the disaster had on the entire mining industry. Resnick illuminates a particular historical tragedy with all its human ramifications while also reminding us that such tragedies caused by corporate greed and indifference are with us to this day. (20100417)
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
Goodbye Wiefes and Daughters July 20, 2010
John M. Raposo (Swansea, Massachusetts United States)
I just finished reading "Goodbye Wifes and Daughters"; it was one of five books that
I put aside for summer reading. I found the book to be very moving and sad. Once I started I couldn't put it down even as it got sadder and sadder by the page. The last time I had this experience with a book was when I read Eli Wiesel's "Night". I hope the sales do well.
By the way, I am of an age that I knew exactly who Tony Boyle was and whom he had murdered. I'll bet most readers will need to get to the end (and the author certainly teases the reader with Tony's future infamy) to find out how he became a murderer.
John M. Raposo
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I thought the title was a typographical error, from a University Press yet ... May 16, 2010
Robert C. Ross (New Jersey)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
but instead it was a poignant goodbye from two miners in a devasting mine disaster. Once past the title, I was captured by Resnick's prose and the depth of her research among people who were affected.
The men who worked in the mine felt they were an essential part of the war effort; signs urged miners not to miss a shift if they wanted America to win the war. The coal they mined went directly to the Army and Navy.
This short extract is a wonderful example of how powerful the writing is:
"The people who remain and those who speak fondly of the Bearcreek they once knew refuse to call it a ghost town. But almost all of them will admit this: Bearcreek was killed, as surely as if it had been flattened by an earthquake or burned by a wildfire. Cause of death: the worst coal mine disaster in Montana's history. The 1943 disaster killed 75 men, leaving 58 widows and 125 fatherless children. Since that day, there have only been three underground coal mine disasters in the United States that have killed more men. But none of those destroyed a community. By the time the disaster struck, Bearcreek had segued from Wild West rowdy to Norman Rockwell wholesome. Fewer people lived there, but it had become the quintessential all-American hometown. After the disaster, it was broken and nearly empty. Utopia? Never again."
This book captured my imagination in a way I've rarely experienced in a non-fiction book.
Robert C. Ross 2010
Story that needed to be told April 17, 2010
N. Hall (MA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I can see why, when Susan Resnick stumbled across the story of this mining tragedy she felt compelled to write a book about it. The book is rich with the research that was done, not only of the actual events that occurred, but of the thoughts and feelings of the people who were involved. Listening to the news of the recent mining disaster in WVa, which is eerily similar to that of the one that occurred in the 1940s, the importance of this book becomes even more apparent.
Gripping story in the hands of a skilled writer April 15, 2010
Connie Mayo (Sharon, MA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Nonfiction can be a tricky thing. Just about anyone can convey past events and facts about people - but who wants to read a history book? On the other hand, how do you get the reader emotionally involved in the lives of people who are long dead? And in the case of this book, how do you get readers who might have cushy indoor jobs and college educations interested in MINING?
Well, good thing Susan Kushner Resnick didn't let those challenges stop her. Goodbye Wifes and Daughters is a great read that really shows you who these people were and makes you care about them. By the time you hook into the men and women in this mining town, you start reading the stuff about methane and mine ventilation with gusto (really).
So little has changed when it comes to the safety of the coal miners - everyone who was on the edge of their seat routing for the last four miners in the Massey coal mine disaster should buy this book today.
Compelling and amazing. March 20, 2010
Anne Alexander (Laramie, Wyoming USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I could not put down this incredibly well-told account of the Smith Mine disaster. Thanks to the author's tender treatment, I have come to understand the lives of the men and women who lived and worked in Bearcreek, the last day of those who were killed in this tragedy, the impact on their families, and the devastating blow it dealt to the town. I live in the boyhood home of Emil Anderson in Red Lodge, Montana, and have often wondered about what became of the Anderson clan. Now I know the story of this fine, warm family a little better because of the excellent research and story-telling ability of Susan Kushner Resnick. The author also brings the story of the Wackenshaw clan to life, with wonderful and kind Bud, beautiful and hearty Mary, and Adam the patriarch. I was moved to tears when visiting their gravesites after reading this book, feeling as if I knew them very well. These and all the other families she follows help us see the effect that each life has on so many others, and the fragile web of ties that bind us together as communities.
This story also helps us understand how bad or delayed decisions, corners cut, and heartbreakingly slow bureaucracy led to the very tragic ending of 75 lives, the total uprooting of their families as they adjusted to life on their own, and the sad demise of a town with a lot of heart.
You will not regret buying this book. You won't be able to put it down.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
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