Plague

A Novel of the Great Influenza

By: Marian Rizzo

Narrated by: Kathleen Bond

March 4, 1918. An army cook at Fort Riley, Kansas reported to the infirmary with a temperature of 103.1 degrees fahrenheit. Within two days, another 521 men became sick. It is one of the first recorded outbreaks of what came to be known as the Spanish flu. Approximately one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. The number of deaths is estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide, with about 675,000 occurring in the United States.

Living in the country, we fared better than those who lived in crowded conditions in the big cities. We were like one big, happy family, living in different houses. We held barn raisings, outdoor festivals, and church picnics. You might say we lived in our own little Shangri-La. But at last, the plague of 1918 found us too, and that silent killer was about to drag us into hell.

©2021 Marian Rizzo (P)2021 Marian Rizzo