MY RIVER CHRONICLES: Rediscovering the Work that Built America
MY RIVER CHRONICLES
Rediscovering the Work that Built America
A Personal and Historical Journey
**Winner, 2010 ASJA Outstanding Book Award, Memoir**
by Jessica DuLong
After journalist Jessica DuLong was laid off from her dot-com job, life took an unexpected turn. A volunteer day aboard fireboat John J. Harvey led to a job in the engine room, where she found a taste of home she hadn't realized she was missing.
Working with the boat's finely crafted machinery made her wonder what America is losing in our shift away from craftsmanship and hands-on work. Her questions crystallized at Ground Zero where fireboat Harvey worked alongside active-duty FDNY Marine Division boats to pump Hudson River water - the only water available since hydrants had failed - to firefighters on land.
Vivid and immediate, MY RIVER CHRONICLES is a journey with an extraordinary guide - a mechanic's daughter and Stanford graduate who bridges blue-collar and white-collar worlds, turning a phrase as deftly as she does a wrench. One of the world's only female fireboat engineers, DuLong shares her own experiences of learning to navigate a traditionally male world. As she searches for the meaning of work in America, she offers a porthole-view narrative of the Hudson as a microcosm of post-industrial America, masterfully interweaving unforgettable present-day characters and events with four centuries of Hudson River history.
A celebration of craftsmanship, MY RIVER CHRONICLES is a deeply personal story of a unique woman's discovery of her own roots - and America's - that raises important questions about our nation's future.
You can buy the book at http://www.jessicadulong.com/books/buy-the-book/
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MY RIVER CHRONICLESRediscovering the Work that Built America
A Personal and Historical Journey
**Winner, 2010 ASJA Outstanding Book Award, Memoir**
by Jessica DuLong
After journalist Jessica DuLong was laid off from her dot-com job, life took an unexpected turn. A volunteer day aboard fireboat John J. Harvey led to a job in the engine room, where she found a taste of home she hadn't realized she was missing.
Working with the boat's finely crafted machinery made her wonder what America is losing in our shift away from craftsmanship and hands-on work. Her questions crystallized at Ground Zero where fireboat Harvey worked alongside active-duty FDNY Marine Division boats to pump Hudson River water - the only water available since hydrants had failed - to firefighters on land.
Vivid and immediate, MY RIVER CHRONICLES is a journey with an extraordinary guide - a mechanic's daughter and Stanford graduate who bridges blue-collar and white-collar worlds, turning a phrase as deftly as she does a wrench. One of the world's only female fireboat engineers, DuLong shares her own experiences of learning to navigate a traditionally male world. As she searches for the meaning of work in America, she offers a porthole-view narrative of the Hudson as a microcosm of post-industrial America, masterfully interweaving unforgettable present-day characters and events with four centuries of Hudson River history.
A celebration of craftsmanship, MY RIVER CHRONICLES is a deeply personal story of a unique woman's discovery of her own roots - and America's - that raises important questions about our nation's future.
You can buy the book at http://www.jessicadulong.com/books/buy-the-book/
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