Abstract: For two days in November 1872, a massive fire swept through Boston, leaving the downtown in ruins and the population traumatized. Coming barely a year after the infamous Chicago fire, Boston’s inferno turned out to be one of the most expensive fires per acre in U.S. history. Yet today few are aware of how close Boston came to destruction. With illustrations, maps and photos, Boston author Stephanie Schorow masterfully recounts how the fire began, the foolish decisions that precipitated it, and how firefighters managed to bring the so-called "Fire Fiend" under control. 

Speaker Bio: Stephanie Schorow is the author or co-author of nine nonfiction books on topics in Boston history. She has written about the tragic 1942 Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire, the notorious Combat Zone, Boston’s infamous mobsters, and the fabulous 1950 Brink’s robbery. She was the project leader on A Boston Harbor Islands Adventure: The Great Brewster Journal, a story of intrepid four women who traveled to Great Brewster Island in 1891 for a memorable escapade. Since 2022, she has taught media writing at Boston University’s College of Communication. She has been an editor, reporter and/or freelance correspondent for the Boston Herald, the Associated Press, the Boston Globe, and newspapers in Missouri, Idaho, Utah, and Connecticut. She has won numerous awards for her work and has frequently appeared in documentaries to discuss the topics she has researched. Her first novel, Cat Dreaming: A Story of Friendships and Second Chances, is a wickedly funny romp through the newspaper world of the 1980s.