HIS 132
Elmer Yokum: Instructor
John Strange
A Review of “A Bolt From the Blue”
I
was thoroughly captivated by the upsetting, yet fascinating article, “A Bolt From the Blue.” The
short article in Our State magazine
recounts the tragic saga of the Oak Grove Presbyterian Church that was hammered
by a bolt of lightning in the summer of 1938.
Four congregation members were instantly killed and approximately a
dozen others were burned and shocked by the electrical blast. Ironically, all the dead were related: three were siblings and the fourth was a
cousin. Cliff Tyndall, the author,
describes events leading up to the tragedy and then recounts the lightning strike and
immediate aftermath with great detail.
Despite the horrific loss of life and many injuries, the church
congregation persisted. A new church
building was constructed and the name was subsequently changed to reflect those
who lost their lives that fateful day.
The author based his article on interviews with members of the congregation present during the lightning strike. Tyndall makes copious use of quotes and personal details and this greatly adds to the narrative. Period newspaper accounts were used to supplement the oral history interviews.
The
article was graphic in its description of the injured and dying people. I have always heard about the dangers of
lightning and this story clearly illustrates the power of nature. I found it interesting that the four dead
were all related. Could this have been
for some unexplained physical reason? I
wish the author had delved deeper into this issue, yet any such discussion
would probably be speculation. I just
found it fascinating that a church could become such a place of death; this was
unsettling and strange to me. Overall,
this was a well-researched and concise article narrating a little-known tragedy
in
Tyndall, Clifford, “A Bolt From the Blue,” Our State, March 2003.