Today marks the 90th anniversary of the Halifax Explosion. Once upon a time I was obsessed with the explosion and noted its anniversary every year without fail. I wrote numerous short stories (one of which even won an award) about the explosion as well as some horrid teenage poetry. I did a photo essays of the sites around Halifax pertaining to the explosion - grave sites, damaged buildings, temporary shelters (that are still being used as homes today), etc. Of course I made it a point to read a mass of books on the subject (ie: everything by Janet Kitz). In my early youth I even had opportunity to interview some of the survivors. I was obsessed.
And then I wasn’t. And then I stopped remembering the anniversary until someone reminded me. And that’s what happened this year. The author of one of the blogs I read regularly (Websnark) posted an excellent entry today about the explosion and the role Vince Coleman played in it and without the post I would no doubt have forgotten it again.
I’d glad there is someone remembering the things that deserve remembering…
