The Day the World Came to Town Updated Edition: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland
The True Story Behind the Events on 9/11 that Inspired Broadway’s Smash Hit Musical Come from Away, Featuring All New Material from the Author
When 38 jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land at Gander International Airport in Canada by the closing of U.S. airspace on September 11, the population of this small town on Newfoundland Island swelled from 10,300 to nearly 17,000. The citizens of Gander met the stranded passengers with an overwhelming display of friendship and goodwill.
As the passengers stepped from the airplanes, exhausted, hungry and distraught after being held on board for nearly 24 hours while security checked all of the baggage, they were greeted with a feast prepared by the townspeople. Local bus drivers who had been on strike came off the picket lines to transport the passengers to the various shelters set up in local schools and churches. Linens and toiletries were bought and donated. A middle school provided showers, as well as access to computers, email, and televisions, allowing the passengers to stay in touch with family and follow the news.
Over the course of those four days, many of the passengers developed friendships with Gander residents that they expect to last a lifetime. As a show of thanks, scholarship funds for the children of Gander have been formed and donations have been made to provide new computers for the schools. This book recounts the inspiring story of the residents of Gander, Canada, whose acts of kindness after the 9/11 attacks have touched the lives of thousands of people and been an example of humanity and goodwill.
This unforgettable story of compassion and community details:
- The Real Come from Away Story: Discover the incredible true events behind the hit Broadway musical—a story of how a small town of 10,000 people welcomed nearly 7,000 stranded passengers into their lives.
- Overwhelming Kindness: How striking bus drivers abandoned their picket lines, townspeople cooked feasts around the clock, and neighbors stripped their own linen closets to provide comfort for thousands of strangers.
- Stranded Passengers: Follow the stories of the travelers—from mayors and corporate CEOs to a state trooper and a worried mother—who found unexpected safety and friendship in the middle of nowhere.
- Lasting Friendships: Learn how the bonds formed during those four days led to lifelong connections, international scholarship funds, and a powerful, enduring example of goodwill in the face of terror.
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Community Reviews
Quotes I loved:
"Raise your glass and drink with me to that island in the sea
Where friendship is a word they understand.
You will never be alone when you're in a Newfie's home.
There's no price tag on the doors in Newfoundland
There will always be a chair at the table for you there,
They will share what they have with any man.
You don't have to worry, friend, if your pocketbook is thin,
There's no price tag on the doors in Newfoundland" pg. 5
"For the better part of a week, nearly every man, woman, and child in Gander and the surrounding smaller towns stopped what they were doing so they could help. They placed their lives on hold for a group of strangers and asked for nothing in return. They affirmed the basic goodness of man at a time when it was easy to doubt such humanity still existed. If the terrorists had hoped their attacks would reveal the weaknesses in western society, the events in Gander proved its strength" pg. 7
"Vitale was speechless when they left. Although the Wheatons thought nothing of leaving a stranger in their home, it was an act of faith Vitale desperately needed at that moment. Something to replace the pain he was feeling. A reassuring sign that the world wasn't as stark as the music that was still echoing in his head" pg. 90
"Given everything that was going wrong in the world, it was reassuring to see that right now, right here, in one small corner of the planet, something was going right. There was no hatred. No anger. No fear in Gander. Only the spirit of community. Here, everyone was equal, everyone was treated the same. Here, the basic humanity of man wasn't just surviving but thriving" pg. 194
"In the past, it had always been easy for the citizens of Gander to drown out events in other parts of the world because they always seemed so far removed. Gander, after all, was a safe place to live. A community that prided itself on unlocked doors and friendly neighbors. Now they'd see how a tragedy more than a thousand miles away could touch their lives directly. Not only had the world come to town, but so, too, did the world's problems." pg. 231
Wonderful and uplifting book about a small town that welcomed strangers with open arms and showed kindness in such a dark time. I loved the musical Come From Away and was so happy someone suggested reading this. I kept singing the songs in my head while listening. I know a lot of people do not want to revisit that time in history, but this account gives the accounts of what can happen when we all show some empathy towards each other and pull together to be human kind.
Definitely worth listening to on audio. The narrator sounds similar to Tom Hanks.
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