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"March 4,1918 An army cook at Fort Riley, Kansas, reported to the infirmary with a temperature of 103.1 F. Within two days another 521 men became sick. It is one of the first recorded outbreaks of what came to be known as the Spanish flu. Approximately one-third of the world's population became infected with this virus. The number of deaths is estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States. Living in the country, we fared better than those who lived in crowded conditions in the big cities. We were like one big, happy family, living in different houses. We held barn raisings, outdoor festivals, and church picnics. You might say we lived in our own little Shangri-La. But at last the plague of 1918 found us too, and that silent killer was about to drag us into hell. ""Isolation is the key,"" my husband, Dr. John Gallagher, kept saying. ""We have to separate the healthy from the sick."" As the town's only physician, John oversaw the health of approximately 1,400 people. Though our quiet little burg wasn't hit as hard as some of the big cities-specifically Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Boston-we suffered several losses before residents of Sawmill, Pennsylvania, began to acknowledge that John was right, and isolation helped to curb the progression of the disease. But isolation also brought with it another set of hardships."

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9781952474743

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Pulitzer Prize nominee Marian Rizzo has written five contemporary novels and two biblical era novels in additon to her non-fiction and inspirational writing. She's been a journalist for twenty-five years with the Ocala Star-Banner Newspaper, part of the Gatehouse Media Group. Now retired, Marian has continued to work with the Star-Banner as a correspondent. She's won numerous awards in journalism, including the New York Times Chairman's Award and first place in the annual Amy Foundation Writing Awards.Marian lives in Ocala, Florida, with her daughter Vicki who has Down Syndrome. Her other daughter, Joanna, is the mother of three children. Grandparenting has added another element of joy to Marian's busy schedule, which includes workouts five times a week, lots of reading, and lunches with the girls.

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