About Shattered Peace: A Century of Silence
On November 11, 1919, during the first Armistice Day, violence erupted on the streets of Centralia. World War I veterans in the American Legion marched in the parade, but when they neared the Roderick Hotel, headquarters of the Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies), gunfire resounded as a group of men rushed from the street to raid the Wobbly Hall. For more than a century, people have debated what happened. Were shots fired at veterans in the parade, prompting Legionnaires to break ranks and attack the hall? Or did veterans raid the hall first, prompting Wobblies to defend themselves and their property? Nobody alive today witnessed the events that occurred during the Centralia Tragedy, also referred to as the Centralia Massacre.
Julie McDonald Zander, award-winning journalist, local historian and newspaper columnist, shares how she delved into the tragedy and wrote a historical fiction novel inspired by these true events, Shattered Peace: A Century of Silence.
Julie McDonald Zander earned a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from the University of Washington before working two decades as a newspaper reporter and editor. Through her personal history company, Chapters of Life, she has published more than 75 individual, family, and community histories. Her debut novel, The Reluctant Pioneer, won a Will Rogers Medallion and was a finalist for the Western Writers of America's Spur Award for Best Historical Novel. She and her husband live in the Pacific Northwest, where they raised their two children.
