In 2001,
journalist Jessica DuLong ditched her dot-com desk job for the diesel
engines of a rusty antique fireboat, the John J. Harvey, and the
storied waters of the Hudson River. My River Chronicles:
Rediscovering America on the Hudson tells the story of this
mechanic's daughter and Stanford graduate who had left her blue-collar
upbringing behind until the fireboat drew her back, offering a chance
to become an engineer and a taste of home she hadn't realized she was
missing.
The more time DuLong spent toiling in the engine room, running the
boat's finely crafted machinery, the more she wondered what America is
losing in our shift away from handson work. These questions
crystallized in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks, when
the FDNY called the retired fireboat back into service, and DuLong and
the rest of the boat's civilian crew pumped water to fight blazes at
Ground Zero. As blue-collar workers clambered on the pile, DuLong was
struck by the dignity of physical labor and the honor of having joined
the world of skilled labor whose talents were useful at the site.
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DuLong brings her two worlds
vibrantly to life in this beautifully written memoir that evokes the
vitality of New York City's bygone working waterfront and the Hudson
River, a birthplace of American industry. Blending four centuries of
Hudson River history with unforgettable present-day characters and
events, DuLong offers a porthole-view narrative of the river and its
social tapestry as a microcosm of postindustrial America. As she tracks
changes along the shoreline, where industrial sites give way to
recreational respites, a celebration of American labor and
craftsmanship emerges. While searching along the river's edge for the
meaning of work in America, DuLong pays homage to our industrial past
and raises important questions about the future at this pivotal moment
in our national story.
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My
River Chronicles is a journey with an extraordinary guide, a
woman who bridges blue-collar and white-collar worlds and turns a
phrase as deftly as she does a wrench. Soulful and illuminating, My River Chronicles
is a deeply personal story of a unique woman's discovery of her own
roots -- and America's -- as she runs the fireboat's diesels on the
ever-changing river that flows both ways..
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My River Chronicles
Rediscovering America on the Hudson
by Jessica DuLong
Free
Press,
2009
Order
a copy
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