Robert Hartley - Author of Death Underground: The Centralia and West Frankfort Mine Disasters

<p>Robert Hartley co-authored Death Underground with David Kenney, published by the Southern Illinois University Press in 2006. We speak with him this week because December 22 will be the 70th anniversary of the mine explosion in West Frankfort that killed 119 miners. Coal mines have been core to the Southern Illinois economy. It touched the lives of countless families throughout the region.&nbsp;</p> <p>We discuss the process of writing this history and his craft. He also explains the strength of his collaboration with SIUC political scientist, David Kenney.</p>