William N. Grigg, Jr. is the sole owner of the NLSE.ORG web site.
Over the years people have always asked what his connection is to the site and why he has one about the New London School Explosion. Although the answers are available on his site, the following is a concise explanation.
His father, William N. Grigg, Sr. was in the fifth grade when the explosion took place, and his son (William N. Grigg, Jr., nicknamed Possie at birth) has always been aware of it. Although the subject wasn't discussed in detail for many years, Possie always found himself drawn to the facts surrounding the event: before, during, and after.
His uncle Horace was a junior at the time and survived but was severely injured. His uncle Edwin, in seventh grade, did not. Information about the three brothers is available at www.nlse.org and William and Horace are featured in the Recollections Section.
When people began using the internet as a source of information, Possie saw the World Wide Web as an excellent way to pay tribute to those who died as well as those who survived. He wasn't interested in writing a book, giving lectures, or engaging in any financially rewarding schemes. He only wanted to share the information with those who might not be aware of this historically tragic event in American History. The NLSE.ORG web site was born.
Today Possie is in his early forties, and lives in Arkansas in order to be close to his parents and take care of them. He once stated, "I will never let them be put in a nursing home or left to fend for themselves, as some children do with their folks."
His father is, and always has been, his hero, and after graduation Possie wanted to follow in his dad's footsteps and work in the oilfields. He worked offshore on a drilling rig and then went to New Mexico to work on a land drilling rig. Among his major employers were Halliburton and B.J. Hughes Cementing Services. When the oilfields in New Mexico began shutting down, he went to Pennsylvania and New York to work in the oilfields there and got into the hauling of heavy oilfield equipment.
When those oilfields closed he became a long distance (coast to coast) truck driver and did that for about fourteen years.
He retired in 1996 which is when he moved to Arkansas. He says that his retirement days are every bit as full as his working days and he enjoys many activities in addition to the web site. Woodworking and the restoration of old cars are two of them. Photographs of some of the furniture he has built can be seen on the web.
He has also become a "computer junkie" and enjoys chatting online as well as surfing the web.
The above excerpt was taken from an introductory presentation to fire department chiefs with modifications for inclusion on this site.
