WLU Press virtual launch event features Laurier History professors discussing book on Halifax harbour explosion

Dec. 1, 2020

Wilfrid Laurier University Press invites members of the Laurier community to the virtual launch of its latest publication, Catastrophe: Stories and Lessons from the Halifax Explosion by the late T. Joseph Scanlon, on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. over Zoom.

Catastrophe is an examination of the 1917 explosion at the Halifax harbour – the worst non-natural disaster in North American history before 9/11 – and how it influenced later emergency planning and disaster theory. Throughout the book, Scanlon, an accomplished journalist, disaster researcher and scholar, highlights the emergency efforts of civilians and first responders, and the troubled response from outside authorities.

The launch event will include a discussion of the book with its editor and Laurier History Professor Roger Sarty, and Canadian military expert and Laurier History instructor Mike Bechthold.

Scanlon passed away in May 2015, leaving the book’s manuscript unfinished. Scanlon’s children, along with historians and experts from across North America including Sarty, Bechthold, WLU Press Senior Editor Siobhan McMenemy and Laurier Professor Brenda Murphy, contributed to Catastrophe’s eventual publication.

The virtual book launch is free to attend, but registration is required. Catastrophe: Stories and Lessons from the Halifax Explosion can be purchased from local bookstores or ordered online through the WLU Press website.