Author Bruce Goldfarb will explain how he captured stories of harrowing struggles for survival and incredible acts of courage for his new book on April 14 during a 7 p.m. talk in the Meagher Theatre.

In The Worst Day: A Plane Crash, A Train Wreck, and Remarkable Acts of Heroism in Washington, DC, Goldfarb tells the story of January 13, 1982. The nation’s capital was in the grips of a historic snowstorm that gridlocked the city that day when a plane crashed into a bridge jammed with traffic and plunged into the iced-over Potomac River.

Six people survived the crash, clinging to wreckage in the icy water as a Park Police helicopter risked a daring rescue in nearly whiteout conditions. As the rescue was taking place, DC’s Metro system suffered its first fatal derailment nearby, with dozens injured.

Told through the eyes of survivors, firefighters, police, and bystanders, Goldfarb’s book explores the day’s impact on these participants as well as on the resulting aviation and transit safety measures that have protected travelers since that time.

Goldfarb is a former EMT/paramedic and an award-winning journalist, reporting on medicine, science and health. He has served as the executive assistant to the Chief Medical Examiner for the state of Maryland and curator of the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death.

His work has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Washington Post, USA Today, Baltimore magazine, NPR’s All Things Considered, American Archaeology, American Health, and many other publications.

Goldfarb has authored eleven books, eight of which are medical texts and reference books.

His other books of popular nonfiction include 18 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics (2020) and OCME: Life in America’s Top Forensic Medical Center (2023).

The presentation, which is free and open to the public, includes an audience Q&A.

For a full list of cultural events at Neumann University, visit www.neumann.edu/arts.