The day the world came to town : 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland / Jim DeFede.

On September 11, 2001, the air space above the U.S. was closed due to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. According to this book, there were 4,546 civilian aircraft over the United States at the time and they all scrambled to find a place to land. Many were able to turn around and land at their originating airports, but for most the only option was to land in Canada. More than 250 aircraft, carrying 43,895 people, were diverted to 15 Canadian airports, including to my own city of Winnipeg, in Manitoba. In each of these cities, an army of volunteers and social service agencies came together to help the stranded passengers in any way possible - from offering them a place to stay or a change of clothes to cooking them meals and taking them sightseeing.

As described in the book, the community receiving the largest number of stranded passengers in comparison to its size was Gander, Newfoundland. Gander is a town with a population of 10,000 and on that day, 38 planes with 6,595 passengers and crew members landed there. "For the better part of a week, nearly every man, woman and child in Gander and the surrounding smaller towns - places with names like Gambo and Appleton and Lewisport and Norris Arm - 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."

This book recounts events of September 11 and the days following affecting Gander and surrounding area as well the airline passengers and crew that arrived there. Most passengers did not know at first why their flight had been diverted to Newfoundland, but later were able to watch television news of the event. The people of Gander and of the nearby towns immediately helped. The Red Cross and the Salvation Army were enlisted to find supplies and shelters for all of the people, who were housed, fed and in many cases, provided with medication all at no cost to them. The townspeople donated food, clothing and bedding and, in some cases, housing. Local stores donated thousands of dollars' worth of items and pharmacies supplied toiletries, including 4,000 toothbrushes. Volunteers did laundry and cooked, and striking school bus drivers volunteered to work around the clock to ferry passengers wherever they needed to go.

As can be imagined, there was a wide variety of passengers that had come to Gander, young and old, from all walks of life, and all had to accept whatever accommodation and food that was available. One example is Hugo Boss chairman Werner Baldessarini who had been travelling to New York for Fashion Week. Once off the plane, he was assigned to stay in a school gym where he took a pillow and blanket and, wearing his cashmere suit, curled up on the floor and went to sleep. Days later, he received a gift of gourmet food from one person and an offer of a private plane to pick him up from another individual. He refused both offers, saying that he would stay in the same circumstances as his fellow travellers.

The people of Newfoundland received many, many thanks and donations of money from the people they helped. One such expression of gratitude was directed toward a local school. After giving permission to use the school's computers, a school principal was flabbergasted to find out that it was the president and a vice-president of the Rockefeller Foundation who needed the computers because they had a "small business" to run. The school and a local church received an impressive gesture of thanks in return.

Just a small quibble about the book - I found the writing a bit "clunky" at times, but I think it's important to look past any writing faults toward the heroic gestures of acceptance and welcome that are shown here.