by

Emily Fardoux

BIOGRAPHICAL RESOURCE
EVALUATION:
FAMOUS FIRE FIGHTERS

Beginning to search
I did a subject search in my librarys catalog for re ghters.
I was disappointed to see no heading for Fire Fighters DramaSteve McQueen,
because I love The Towering Inferno.

Wading through the results

Seven of the books my library owned were on individual re ghters (eight if you count the
autobiography of a re ghters widow). The other ve were about remen teams.

Wading through the results

As I looked through the books Id checked out, they began to separate themselves into two categories individual and

Individual Fireghters

collective reghters.

Collective Fireghters

[Eliminated] Blake, Rich. The Day Donny

Herbert Woke Up: A True Story. New York:
Harmony Books, 2007.

[Eliminated] Fontana, Marian. A Widows

Walk. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.

[Eliminated] Ganci, Chris. Chief: The Life of

Peter J. Ganci, a New York City Fireghter. New
York: Orchard Books, 2003.

Picciotto, Richard, and Daniel Paisner. : A

Fireghters Story of Survival and Escape
from the World Trade Center. New York:
Berkley Books, 2002.

[Eliminated] Smith, Dennis. Report from Engine

Co. 82. New York: Warner Books, 1972.

Von Essen, Thomas, and Matt Murray. Strong

of Heart: Life and Death in the Fire
Department of New York. New York:
HarperCollins, 2002.

[Eliminated] Delsohn, Steve. The Fire

Inside: Fireghters Talk About Their Lives.
New York: HarperCollins, 1996.
[Eliminated] Hendra, Tony, and Frank
McCourt. Brotherhood. New York:
American Express Pub., 2001.
[Eliminated] Smith, Dennis. Fireghters:
Their Lives in Their Own Words. New York:
Doubleday, 1988.
Smith, Dennis. Report from Ground
Zero: The Story of the Rescue Eorts at
the World Trade Center. New York:
Viking, 2002.

Strong of Heart: Life and Death in the Fire

Department of New York
by Thomas Von Essen with Matt Murray
Primary source, published in

2002, 288 pages, 32 pages of

color photographs, no
references
Spans September 11, 2001
December 31, 2001.
Thomas Von Essen was New York
City Fire Commissioner from
April 1996-December 2001.
Anyone who wants to
understand the mindset of a
reghterthe passion for
work, the brotherly devotion
and the couragewill learn
much from this homely
account. Publishers Weekly
review, 2002

Last Man Down: A Firefighters Story of Survival and

Escape from the World Trade Center
by Richard Picciotto with Daniel Paisner
Primary source, published in

2002, 243 pages, no

photographs or references
Account of September 11,
2011 only
Picciotto was one of the rst
reghters on the scene of
the rst tower attack, and
was inside the North Tower
with his men when it
collapsed.
Narrative format
Named one of Booklists
Best Adult Books for Young
Adults 2002

Report from Ground Zero

by Dennis Smith
Primary source, published in

2002, 366 pages, 16 pages of

black and white photographs,
no references
Spans September 11, 2001
November 12, 2001
Dennis Smith is a retired
reghter with 18 years
working in the FDNY; he has
written several books on
reghting.
Diary-like format makes book
easily accessible for teens and
older

Conclusions
Recommended book

Supplemental photography