About this item
In 1918, Minnesota and its residents were confronted with a series of devastating events that put communities to the test, forcing them to persevere through untold hardship. First, as the nation immersed itself in the global conflict later known as World War I, some 118,000 Minnesotans served in the war effort, both at home and "over there"-and citizens on the home front were subjected to loyalty tests and new depths of government surveillance. While more than 1,400 Minnesotans were killed on the battlefields, an additional 2,300 soldiers were struck down by another destructive force working its way across the globe in 1918: the influenza pandemic, which left more than 10,000 dead in Minnesota alone. Then, in mid-October, fires raged across 1,500 square miles in seven counties of northeastern Minnesota, leaving thousands homeless and hundreds dead.
About the Author
Curt Brown's new book, "Minnesota 1918" details the trident of woe that pierced the state 100 years ago -- when forest fires, World War I and the flu pandemic ravaged the state. He writes a popular Minnesota history column every Sunday for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Those stories have been packaged into an e-book called: "Frozen in History: Amazing Tales from Minnesota's Past."
He spent more than 30 years as a reporter at Minnesota newspapers in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Fergus Falls. After studying history and American studies at Macalester College, he joined the Associated Press in 1982.
Brown was named Minnesota Journalist of the Year in 2013 for his serial narrative on the U.S.-Dakota War, "In the Footsteps of Little Crow." An e-book version climbed to No. 14 on the New York Times list of bestselling non-fiction e-books.
His quirky tale on the nation's last barber pole-making family, "The William Marvy Company of St. Paul: Keeping Barbershops Classic" was published in 2015 (The History Press, Charleston, S.C.) .
His first book, "So Terrible a Storm: A Tale of Fury on Lake Superior,"(Voyageur Press, 2008) chronicled a wicked gale that smacked Duluth in 1905. Brown lives near Durango, Colo., with his wife, Adele.
