Having been told that her paternal grandfather had survived the Cherry Mine disaster , the worst mine fire in the history of the United States , Tintori began an exploration into the disaster that took the lives of 259 men and boys deep inside an Illinois coal mine . The result was '' Trapped : The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster '' ( Atria Books , 2002 ) . The book explores the senseless way the fire began , the failed efforts to rescue those down below , the heroism both above and below ground , and the impact it had on the lives of those involved . Increasingly interested in her family genealogy and heritage , she recounts the experiences of immigrants , including her own relatives , who had recently come from countries throughout Europe - particularly Italy - seeking success and finding only suffering and death in that mine . After its hardcover release , the book was published in paperback
Cherry Mine disaster
1909 Cherry Mine disaster
Karen Tintori