Spencer
asked
Anna Clark:
Having lived in Flint from the start of the water crisis up through the end of 2017, I've seen, experienced, and also learned a lot along the way...thank you for writing on this. Water is more than just a privilege, it is a basic human right and those in power violated that in Flint - of I'm sure many other places in the United States. How did you know where to start with your book?
Anna Clark
Hi Spencer! Thank you back; it means a lot to hear from folks who have been on the ground in Flint. As for knowing where to start the book: it was a combination of trial & error, and instinct. Pastor McCathern was one of my earliest interviews and he made *such* an impression on me, so he opens the book. You meet him as I met him, more or less. Also, most articles I was seeing began with the water switch in April 2014, but that undercut so much of what came before. The pivotal day of the switch appears early in my book too, but I had more space to pan out and show how this manmade water disaster played out amidst the majesty of the Great Lakes. They key questions that fueled the book: How does a city become vulnerable in the first place? What are our choices for where to go next. I tried to take it all step by step, this human story that goes back decades, in Flint and beyond.
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