janet f. kitz ("née" brownlee; 12 january 1930 – 10 may 2019) was a scottish-born canadian educator, author and historian. she is best known helping the 1917 halifax explosion become well-known to the public. the event is the largest man-made explosion before the atomic bomb and the worst man-made disaster in canadian history. in the 70 years after the halifax explosion, only two books had been written about the event. she wrote many books about the disaster, including "shattered city: the halifax explosion and the road to recovery" (1989).