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Karen Kruse

Born: 1958 in Chicago, Illinois
Pen Name: None

Connection to Illinois: Kruse was born in Chicago and currently resides in Schaumburg, Illinois.

Biography: Karen Kruse, is a descendant of three generations of Chicago firefighters, a member of Mensa and the author of several articles on Chicago cemeteries.


Awards:
  • Nominated for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize in History

Primary Audience(s): Adult readers; Children; Young adult readers

Email: FirehouseAuthor@aol.com
Website: http://www.achicagofirehouse.com
Karen Kruse on WorldCat : http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=karen+kruse


Selected Titles

A Chicago firehouse :
ISBN: 0738518573 OCLC: 47039640

Arcadia Pub., Chicago : ©2001.

A Chicago firehouse :
ISBN: 9781439613122 OCLC: 630552857

Arcadia Pub., Chicago, IL : ©2001.

From its humble beginnings in 1884 as a one-story frame building with one bay to house Hose Company 4 and its team of horses, Engine Company 78 has been the firefighting sentinel at the end of Waveland Avenue, sitting in the shadow of Wrigley Field. Using vintage photographs and moving stories from firefighters themselves, Karen Kruse captures the spirit and heroism of this historic Chicago landmark. Captain Robert F. Kruse served the Chicago Fire Department for 30 years, half of those at Wrigleyville's Engine 78. Growing up within the tight-knit firefighting community, Ms. Kruse records the dramatic and touching stories from her father's and his peers' experiences, and combines them in this volume exploring the unique history of Lakeview's firehouse, including a foreword by Mike Ditka and preface by Fire Commissioner James Joyce. With details about little known historic districts and a brief guide to Chicago's cemeteries and their relations to firefighters, A Chicago Firehouse: Stories of Wrigleyville's Engine 78 relays in first-hand accounts some of Chicago's most fiery tragedies, the brave men who battled them, and the diversity of the neighborhood that housed them.

 

 

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