According
to the book description of Out of the Fire: Life from the Ashes, “In 1948, Annie Chivers'
parents packed their meager belongings, gathered their six children, and set off from Pigeon Creek, Alabama, for Niagara Falls,
where they hoped to start a new life filled with great possibilities. As the family settles into Hyde Park Village and begin
to dream for the best, none of them have any idea of the impact their decision has just made on all of their lives.
In
her poignant memoir, Annie details how she was just three years old in 1956 when her family received an eviction notice, just
weeks before Christmas. Desperate and now homeless with ten children, Annie's father quickly seized an offer from the owner
of the dilapidated Moonglow Hotel, who opened rooms for all the low-income housing evictees. But on November 16, 1957, his
decision proved fatal when fire ravaged the hotel. Pulled from the flames by her sister who found her hiding under her crib,
Annie is thrown from a second story window and miraculously survives. Unfortunately, eighteen others did not, including seven
of her siblings.
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