The beginning of the story...

Welcome to my initial blog and website for my first book, Burn Boston Burn.

Initial Book Cover exploration.

Just to let you know, the book is not yet published. The manuscript is written, but the publishing is a work in progress. However, the publishing process requires a social media presence. Since I am not social media savvy, this is all new to me.

In the coming weeks, besides updating the website and blog with additional material, I will be exploring other media platforms. I will be getting a new email so that if any of you would like to communicate with me, I would welcome any and all support and comments. If any of you have any remembrances of some of the 1982-early 1984 fires, I will post those on this site. Also, photos of any 1982-early 1984 fires would be welcomed. If you supply the information on what fire is depicted and who took the photo, it would be appreciated so that the proper credit can be given.

I have wanted to write a book about this unbelievable rash of arsons in and around Boston in 1982 to early 1984 for several years. I was the ATF case agent on this case for almost 3 years. After retiring from ATF in 2001, I worked for the next 17 years as a Fire and Explosion Analyst with the Wright Group.

Every year, I kept procrastinating; I thought about writing, but never “put pen to paper” so to speak. Just a year ago, a writer from The Boston Globe expressed interest in writing a story on this case for the Sunday Magazine. This finally got me to start writing. My juices started flowing as well as the words. Nearly every night, I typed for hours. As nearly every Red Sox game played in the background, I banged away on my laptop. I enjoyed every minute of researching the material and catching up with old associates as I interviewed them for their input. Every person that I have spoken to about this book has given me incredible support. I will name some of them in a future post. I particularly relished putting the words into action.The entire process has kept me excited throughout the past 13 months.

Most anybody less than 50 years old knows nothing about this story of 9 men who conspired to burn down Boston. This book will give the reader the who, what, where, when and why of the internal workings of the arson ring and the epidemic of fires. The story is intriguing. It was worth writing and is definitely worth reading. Please tell your friends and associates about this website and the upcoming book. I would appreciate that. I’ll be in touch soon.