by Tom Rinaldi
First published 2016
Tom Rinaldi tells the story of Welles Crowther, a young Wall Street worker who carried his father's red handkerchief everywhere he went. Growing up in Nyack, New York, Welles volunteered at the local fire department while pursuing his finance career. On September 11, 2001, his office sat on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center. When the towers were attacked, Welles used his red bandanna to help survivors escape from the 78th floor of the South Tower. He carried injured people on his back and led groups down nearly twenty flights of stairs. Each time he reached safety, he turned around and climbed back up to rescue more people. A survivor remembered the young man with the red bandanna who saved her life, though she never learned his name. Eight months later, his parents discovered what their son had done in his final hours. The book traces Welles's path from college lacrosse player to reluctant banker to unlikely hero, and follows his family's journey to understand his sacrifice.
Genres: biography, non-fiction, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: unlikely-hero
Setting: New York, Nyack, Wall Street, World Trade Center
Period: 2001, September 11
224 pages · Hardcover · Penguin Press