The morning of April 21, 1967, was crisp and clear, marking the arrival of spring. As the day progressed, dark clouds covered the skies over Oak Lawn, and a deadly tornado touched down in the village just before 5:30 p.m. Cutting through the intersection of 95th Street and Southwest Highway and striking elsewhere, the storm left mountains of debris and over 30 people dead in its wake. Oak Lawn Community High School, St. Gerald Catholic Church, and the Fairway Super Mart were among the structures damaged or destroyed by the high winds. After the disaster, rescue workers and volunteers poured into Oak Lawn to search for survivors, while Christ Community Hospital and other institutions treated more than 400 injured people. The immense cleanup, which took weeks to complete, saw debris hauled out or disposed of in controlled fires. Despite the scope of the devastation, many of the affected structures were repaired or rebuilt within 12 months.

Sodaro's book reveals the deadly 1967 tornado that struck towns of Belvidere and Oak Lawn in northern Illinois and left a 16 mile long path of destruction. The morning of April 21, 1967, was crisp and clear, marking the arrival of spring. As the day progressed, dark clouds covered the skies over Oak Lawn, and a deadly tornado touched down in the village just before 5:30 p.m. Cutting through the intersection of 95th Street and Southwest Highway and striking elsewhere, the storm left mountains of debris and over 30 people dead in its wake. Oak Lawn Community High School, St. Gerald Catholic Church, and the Fairway Super Mart were among the structures damaged or destroyed by the high winds. After the disaster, rescue workers and volunteers poured into Oak Lawn to search for survivors, while Christ Community Hospital and other institutions treated more than 400 injured people. The immense cleanup, which took weeks to complete, saw debris hauled out or disposed of in controlled fires. Despite the scope of the devastation, many of the affected structures were repaired or rebuilt within 12 months.

Situated just outside of Chicago, the bustling suburb of Oak Lawn was incorporated in 1909, although its rich history can be traced back to the 1830s. For decades, the village remained a thinly populated farming community. However, like many towns across America, the early 20th century brought steady growth, and the years following World War II saw an unprecedented population explosion. With thousands of new residents arriving every year, numerous homes, churches, and schools were constructed, forever changing Oak Lawn. In the face of immense growth and other adversities, such as the 1967 tornado, the village continued to prosper and mature. The images in this book act as a window to its past, highlighting many of the people, places, and events that have made Oak Lawn the dynamic community it is today.

Claiming the lives of seven adults and seventeen children, the Belvidere tornado struck the most vulnerable at the worst possible time: just as school let out. More than five hundred people suffered injuries. New interviews and fascinating archival history underscore the horrific drama, as well as the split-second decisions of victims and survivors that saved their families and neighbors. Since the tragedy, three more devastating tornadoes have further defined Boone County's resilience: Poplar Grove in 2008, Caledonia in 2010 and Fairdale in 2015.

Serendipity placed David Johnston on Mount St. Helens when the volcano rumbled to life in March 1980. Throughout that ominous spring, Johnston was part of a team conducting scientific research that underpinned warnings about the mountain. Those warnings saved thousands of lives when the most devastating volcanic eruption in U.S. history blew apart Mount St. Helens but killed Johnston on the ridge that now bears his name. Melanie Holmes tells the story of Johnston's journey from a nature-loving Boy Scout to a committed geologist. Blending science with personal detail, Holmes follows Johnston through his encounters with Aleutian volcanoes, his work helping the Portuguese government assess the geothermal power of the Azores, and his dream job as a volcanologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. Interviews and personal writings reveal what a friend called “the most unjaded person I ever met,” an imperfect but kind and intelligent young scientist passionately in love with his life and work and determined to make a difference.

SouthWest Side Stories are true life experiences about being raised in the fifties and sixties and growing up as an adult in the seventies. Come back and relive a simpler time where there were no cell phones or video games, a time where you made your own fun, using your imagination. Lifestyles, friends, dresses, places, restaurants, and neighborhoods of Chicago are priceless treasures. Take a breath, let it out, and open your mind to the people and places you have left behind. Mind and memory travel at its best. Enjoy, laugh out loud, and reminisce those good old days.

In this series of adventures, Raggedy Ann goes for a ride on a kite and survives a washing.

A “poignant [and] powerful” novel about a 1920s Midwestern community in the aftermath of a devastating tornado (The New Yorker). In March 1925, the worst tornado in the nation’s history will descend without warning on the small town of Marah, Illinois. By nightfall, hundreds will be homeless and hundreds more will lie in the streets, dead or grievously injured. Only one man, Paul Graves, will still have everything he started the day with—his family, his home, and his business, all miraculously intact. This “absolutely gorgeous” novel follows Paul Graves and his young family in the year after the storm as they struggle to comprehend their own fate and that of their devastated town (The New York Times). They watch helplessly as Marah tries to resurrect itself from the ruins and as their friends and neighbors begin to wonder how one family, and only one, could be exempt from terrible misfortune. As the town begins to recover, the family miscalculates the growing resentment and hostility around them with tragic results, in an “extraordinarily moving” portrayal of survivor’s guilt and the frenzy of bereavement following a disaster (Financial Times). “All the big themes are here—chance, fate, loyalty, revenge, guilt, jealousy . . . Inspired by actual events surrounding the 1925 Tri-State tornado, the worst in U.S. history, Southwood’s poignantly penetrating examination of the psychic cost of survival is breathtaking in its depth of understanding.” —Booklist (starred review) “What’s most exciting about Southwood’s debut is her prose, which is reminiscent of Willa Cather’s in its ability to condense the large, ineffable melancholy of the plains into razor-sharp images.” —The Daily Beast

A single woman's journey with her twenty-four points of life, this is the tale of the youngest of four raised by quasi-empty nester parents in the fast-growing suburbs of Chicago. Through several political assassinations, a deadly tornado, and absent siblings by the tender age of ten, Anna quickly grew accustomed to a life of solitude and a developing self-competence. Leading the way as mentors, Anna's three older siblings acted as superb role models even if from a distance. Along with guidance from her aging parents, she learned the importance of a robust education, a healthy work ethic, and being kind to others. Sadly, Anna was never able to conceive children but rather found herself traveling across the country and uncoupling from ex-husbands as the fertile years faded. To stay afloat financially, Anna earned college degrees while working full-time jobs, quenching her thirst for knowledge while cultivating vital skills. She focused on nurturing new and lifelong friendships, building a list of invigorating hobbies, and learning to enjoy her own company, especially as sibling rivalry reared its ugly head. Her twenty-four points of life unmistakably lay the groundwork for solo success for women and men alike.

"Fruitcake Hill" is a cleverly written history and personal memoir of an Irish family from the Chicago suburbs that has continuously occupied a single farmhouse property for over 137 years. The story focuses on the family's struggles to preserve the life they knew before urban sprawl became a reality. A humorous and informative read! About the Author Gerald J. Kuecher was born in 1951, the seventh of Babe and Bob Kuecher's 13 children. This strawberry blonde was tough and competitive after years of battling with his big athletic brothers yet he developed a sense of compassion that included crying at strangers' funerals as an altar boy. This marked duality shaped his life. As a teenager, Gerald became interested in the physical sciences after reading reports by the Illinois Geological Survey concerning the glacial history of the Palos area. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in Geology and has published numerous technical articles. This book is his first venture into non-technical literature.