Centralia in the Arts
The Centralia mine fire has inspired an astonishing number of novels, plays, films, poems and photography exhibits in the past 20 years. Here are the ones I know about:
Novels
“The Planets,” by James Finney Boylan. Uses Centralia as a backdrop. Poseidon Press, 1991.
“The Constellations,” by James Finney Boylan. Uses Centralia mine fire as backdrop. Random House, 1994.
“Those Who Favor Fire,” by Lauren Wolk. Uses a town like Centralia and elements of the Centralia story as backdrop for a love story. Random House, 1999.
“The Revolutionary’s Confession,” by George Grayson. Lost Chinese treasure and the mines beneath Centralia. The fate of the world is at stake. Poseidon Press, 2000.
"Dirty Blonde," by Lisa Scottoline. U.S. District Judge Cate Fante, the main character in this crime novel, grew up in Centralia before going away to college and becoming a Federal judge in Philadelphia. In one part of the book, she returns to Centralia to visit her mother's grave in St. Ignatius Cemetery and to view what little is left of her ruined hometown. Lisa hired me to check her manuscript for accuracy, which was pretty good even before the minor changes I suggested. Harper. 2006.
Drama
“The Root of Chaos,” by Douglas Soderberg. Performed Off-Off Broadway, 1987. Summerworks, Toronto, 1992.
“Centralia,” by Deryl B. Johnson. Performed at Kutztown University, 1998.
“Centralia,” a play about “the town that’s been on fire for 39 years.” WestBeth Theater, New York City. I don’t know anymore about this. The 39 years would place it in the summer of 2001.
“Inferno,” the Squonk Opera, Pittsburgh. As if Fellini or Ken Russell did the Centralia story. A rock opera. Very good. 2003.
Films
“Centralia Fire,” directed by Tony Mussari. Documentary, part of PBS’ Matters of Life and Death Series. 1984. Narrated by Martin Sheen. Dariusz Wolski, most recently director of photography on “Pirates of the Caribbean 1 & 2,” was an assistant camera. I was the consultant.
“Made in USA, “ a feature film starring the late Christopher Penn (brother of Sean), Adrian Pasdar and Lori Singer. Filmed in Mount Carmel, Centralia, and Harrisburg, Pa. Released direct-to-video in 1988. Re-released on video, 1999. About two dudes who get fed up with life in a town with a mine fire and head out across country.
Poetry
“The Centralia Mine Fire,” by Leonard Kress. Flume Press, 1987. A collection of poetry, but only the title poem is about Centralia.
Photography
“Centralia,” by Stephen Perloff, editor then and now of Photo Review magazine, Philadelphia, Ten gallery exhibitions, the first major one in 1984.
“Slow Burn,” a photography book by Renee Jacobs that included interviews with Centralia residents. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986. Currently out-of-print. Jacobs’ photographs were exhibited in the Book Trader Gallery, Philadelphia, in December 1986.
Comic Book
“Carbon Knight,” by Chris Ring, 1998. Centralia fire chief Kyle McKnight fights corrupt forces who want to let the mine fire continue burning. They throw him into a burning pit and leave him for dead. Thirty years later, he rises from the fire as a half-man, half rock creature with super powers.
Other Books
"Centralia," by Dr. Deryl Johnson of Kutztown University, has been put out by Arcadia Publishing and is available from online bookseller Amazon.com for $19.99 and from BN.com for $17.99. Dr. Johnson also wrote the play "Centralia" mentioned elsewhere on this page. His new, 128-page softcover book is a tribute to the borough of Centralia and its people and contains historic photos contributed by Tom Dempsey and others. We haven't yet seen a copy, but from comments on the Cent-Cony newsgroup, it appears his book contains a lot of local history, more than just the mine fire.