March 17, 2016
Dear Mr. Deakins:
Deb Whitaker, author of the script "Cocoanut Grove" suggested that I write to you. She co-authored the script under that title with Ken Lawrence, which Suzanne Gillies called to your attention and which you have on your desk. I am writing to you to recommend this particular script which is a story crying out to be produced.
Deb suggested that I write to you for 2 reasons: (1) I was truly appreciative of the entire presentation of "Unbroken" which I was aware was your work, a marvelous collage of different and well filmed scenes and a testimonial to your skills; (2) I have a true passion for the Cocoanut Grove story and feel that its telling is both compelling and long overdue.
My connection to it: (1) I remember the night itself as a 4 year old living in the Boston area where fire, a true holocaust, on that cold Thanksgiving weekend night in a brief and tragic instant, killed 492 in what was at that time the jewel in the crown of all the night clubs in the City; (2) my own Mother, an immigrant from Ireland, who had graduated from the Boston City Hospital's School of Nursing, had stayed on working there and was on duty the night of the Fire where over 300 patients were admitted in 75 minutes from which chaotic scene she did not return home until 4 days later with memories of the horrors that plagued her for the rest of her life - - visual images of the dead and dying spread out across the City Hospitals parking lot - - true PTSD for which this Fire stimulated the very first scientific paper describing that entity.
Several years later after completing medical school I myself returned to Boston and to the Boston City Hospital as a surgical house officer where all my professors had also been on duty on the fateful night of the Fire. All of these experiences steered me into a career of Plastic and reconstructive Surgery of which burn care is a major part. I have recently retired from my practice in Boston and Cambridge where I also was an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Harvard Medical School. I am currently, among other activities, serving as the President of the Cocoanut Grove Memorial Committee which achieved in 2013 a street renaming as a memorial of the Fire, the first street renaming in 50 years in the City of Boston.
Our Committee keeps in touch with the four known remaining survivors and, with the blessings of Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Former Ambassador to the Vatican and Former Mayor Raymond Flynn and Former Fire Commissioner and Fire Historian Paul Christian we are working toward establishing and building a real memorial near the site of the disaster - - shocking that, now 73 and 1/2 years later only a tiny plaque is a testimonial to the 6th biggest by mortality disaster in US history - - a list that includes Pearl Harbor, 9/11, Katrina, the Titanic and the Iriquois Theater Fire of 1903 in Chicago.
While I am well aware that you are very busy but also very aware of the quality of and passion for your work, I can picture your potential enthusiasm for the scope of the Cocoanut Grove Fire. Set in the early days of WW II with Boston as a staging area for our troops and military bound for that conflict, it is not surprising that 51 Active Duty Service lost their lives at this entertainment venue before their potential deployment. With a wide swath of history in the background, the script offers only one fictional vignette - -a love story - think "Titanic."
This Fire led to sentinel changes in fire safety measures, occupancy rules, building code regulations, dual exit doors and all doors opening out, sprinklers systems and auxiliary power for exit signs- - all of which we live with today. If these changes had been well appreciated and remembered perhaps the Warwick, R.I., Station Fire of 2003 (100 dead), the Brazilian night club fire of 2013 (250 dead) and a recent similar Romanian club fire (over 40 dead and a toppled government) - - all of these might never have happened. In addition to the fire safety measure, the Cocoanut Grove Fire led to monumental medical advances: (1) revolutionary changes in burn care still in effect today; (2) complete rethinking of the management of inhalation injuries with early intervention; (3) the historic, first in the civilian world use of Penicillin; (4) the opening of the world's first hospital blood bank; and (5) the first recognition of the entity PTSD.
The Cocoanut Grove Fire of 1942 is far back in the rear view mirror and the lessons that should have been learned from it have been largely ignored and covered over by the sands of time. This basic story cries out for a wide re-airing along with the myriad associated side bar stories of heroism, survival and tragedy. I commend this event and all that it represents to your attention. If you have any questions, comments or thoughts, I will be happy to field them. In a way, I represent the final generation with direct contact to this event.
Thanks for your time and interest.
Sincerely,
Kenneth A. Marshall, MD, FACS
125 Coolidge Ave., # 310
Watertown, Mass. 02472
617-699-4185
Dear Mr. Deakins:
Deb Whitaker, author of the script "Cocoanut Grove" suggested that I write to you. She co-authored the script under that title with Ken Lawrence, which Suzanne Gillies called to your attention and which you have on your desk. I am writing to you to recommend this particular script which is a story crying out to be produced.
Deb suggested that I write to you for 2 reasons: (1) I was truly appreciative of the entire presentation of "Unbroken" which I was aware was your work, a marvelous collage of different and well filmed scenes and a testimonial to your skills; (2) I have a true passion for the Cocoanut Grove story and feel that its telling is both compelling and long overdue.
My connection to it: (1) I remember the night itself as a 4 year old living in the Boston area where fire, a true holocaust, on that cold Thanksgiving weekend night in a brief and tragic instant, killed 492 in what was at that time the jewel in the crown of all the night clubs in the City; (2) my own Mother, an immigrant from Ireland, who had graduated from the Boston City Hospital's School of Nursing, had stayed on working there and was on duty the night of the Fire where over 300 patients were admitted in 75 minutes from which chaotic scene she did not return home until 4 days later with memories of the horrors that plagued her for the rest of her life - - visual images of the dead and dying spread out across the City Hospitals parking lot - - true PTSD for which this Fire stimulated the very first scientific paper describing that entity.
Several years later after completing medical school I myself returned to Boston and to the Boston City Hospital as a surgical house officer where all my professors had also been on duty on the fateful night of the Fire. All of these experiences steered me into a career of Plastic and reconstructive Surgery of which burn care is a major part. I have recently retired from my practice in Boston and Cambridge where I also was an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Harvard Medical School. I am currently, among other activities, serving as the President of the Cocoanut Grove Memorial Committee which achieved in 2013 a street renaming as a memorial of the Fire, the first street renaming in 50 years in the City of Boston.
Our Committee keeps in touch with the four known remaining survivors and, with the blessings of Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Former Ambassador to the Vatican and Former Mayor Raymond Flynn and Former Fire Commissioner and Fire Historian Paul Christian we are working toward establishing and building a real memorial near the site of the disaster - - shocking that, now 73 and 1/2 years later only a tiny plaque is a testimonial to the 6th biggest by mortality disaster in US history - - a list that includes Pearl Harbor, 9/11, Katrina, the Titanic and the Iriquois Theater Fire of 1903 in Chicago.
While I am well aware that you are very busy but also very aware of the quality of and passion for your work, I can picture your potential enthusiasm for the scope of the Cocoanut Grove Fire. Set in the early days of WW II with Boston as a staging area for our troops and military bound for that conflict, it is not surprising that 51 Active Duty Service lost their lives at this entertainment venue before their potential deployment. With a wide swath of history in the background, the script offers only one fictional vignette - -a love story - think "Titanic."
This Fire led to sentinel changes in fire safety measures, occupancy rules, building code regulations, dual exit doors and all doors opening out, sprinklers systems and auxiliary power for exit signs- - all of which we live with today. If these changes had been well appreciated and remembered perhaps the Warwick, R.I., Station Fire of 2003 (100 dead), the Brazilian night club fire of 2013 (250 dead) and a recent similar Romanian club fire (over 40 dead and a toppled government) - - all of these might never have happened. In addition to the fire safety measure, the Cocoanut Grove Fire led to monumental medical advances: (1) revolutionary changes in burn care still in effect today; (2) complete rethinking of the management of inhalation injuries with early intervention; (3) the historic, first in the civilian world use of Penicillin; (4) the opening of the world's first hospital blood bank; and (5) the first recognition of the entity PTSD.
The Cocoanut Grove Fire of 1942 is far back in the rear view mirror and the lessons that should have been learned from it have been largely ignored and covered over by the sands of time. This basic story cries out for a wide re-airing along with the myriad associated side bar stories of heroism, survival and tragedy. I commend this event and all that it represents to your attention. If you have any questions, comments or thoughts, I will be happy to field them. In a way, I represent the final generation with direct contact to this event.
Thanks for your time and interest.
Sincerely,
Kenneth A. Marshall, MD, FACS
125 Coolidge Ave., # 310
Watertown, Mass. 02472
617-699-4185
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Dr. Kenneth Marshall
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Anchors for Angels: The Night of the Fire with Dr. Kenneth Marshall Founder, Cocoanut Grove Memorial Committee |
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