As the child of a Johnstown native, the author grew up hearing the story of the Johnstown Flood. It was 1889 as townspeople went about the business of survival. It was a hardscrabble life for most in Johnstown, with the steadiest incomes earned beneath the ground in the coal mines. The rich got richer while the poor lived hand-to-mouth.
Some of the richest men in the country – people with names like Carnegie, Holmes, and Frick – considered the property above Johnstown their playground. They built South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club on Lake Conemaugh and invited only the crème de la crème of society to join. In order to sail larger boats on the lake, the Club increased the size of its dam in order to raise water levels. Although it was no secret that inferior materials were used to build the dam, no one high in that mountain retreat seemed to take notice.
As townspeople gathered to watch the annual Decoration Day Parade on May 31, 1889, they had no way of knowing that 20 million tons of water was about to crash down on them. Rolling into the valley with the force of Niagara Falls, homes, businesses, animals, and people soon became part of the flotsam. Thousands died, but more were left to tell the story.
The author has often wondered about those residents of Johnstown, and what the experience must have looked like through their eyes. Bitter Friday is the story of five nearly-grown orphans who fight to find a way back home while murder, blackmail, greed, and the terrible flood crush down on them.