Catawba County News

9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland

Published: September 11, 2019

This summer, the library has been hosting a series of non-fiction book discussions, putting recent historical events into context and introducing participants to facts and backstories they may not have known previously.

This September, we’re looking at one of the seminal events in 21st-century America: the tragedies of 9/11. When terrorists attacked American soil, crashing airplanes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania field, killing nearly 3000 men and women immediately, the world changed in an instant. Much of that story is known.

However, when American airspace closed for almost four days, what happened to the international flights already on their way to the US? That story is the topic of this month’s book discussion.

Join us as we talk about The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland, a book by Jim DeFede that explores how the residents of one small Canadian town, through acts of kindness and goodwill, touched the lives of thousands of people stranded by events beyond their control.

The discussion takes place at 6:30 pm on Monday, September 16 at the Sherrills Ford-Terrell Branch Library.