Although people who live here in Clarence certainly won't have any problems remembering the Spill, author Anne Ursu thought that it was a story that deserved to be told in her very first book.
"I thought a larger audience should know about the spill, and its aftereffects," says Ursu, "I mean, it had such a profound effect on the town, but it got hardly any coverage in the national news. I don't know whether or not that's because the CEO's brother is also a vice president at Time Warner."
Ursu's book follows several fictional residents, ranging in age from students at Ventura Elementary to retirees at Sunny Shadows, through the events of the Spill and the months following. Their stories, Ursu claims, "are not the stories of any actual Clarence native, although some were inspired by people I've had conversations with."
When asked if any of the characters in
Spilling Clarence were based on certain personalities around town, Ursu just smiles. "Officially, any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental," she winks, "but you'll have to judge for yourself."
Read the BookReporter.com interview with Ms. Ursu
