Victoria Phaff is facing many problems. Even though it's the new millennium, her concerns are of the age old variety. She is a twenty-three year old Hapa, newly graduated from college, and heart broken. To distract herself and get some distance from a string of failed relationships, she goes to Taiwan to see her great-grandmother, A-zou. While there she unexpectedly finds herself caught in between three generations of Taiwanese women as secrets long suppressed are revealed. As the stories of her great-grandmother, her grandmother, and her mother are unwound, the tenacity and hopes of these women are passed onto the next generation. Vicki draws strength from these tales to grasp happiness for herself.

It's the mid-80's and America's inner cities are still burning. Firefighter Bob Brendler is helping the city of Newark, NJ deal with the problem. He is young, healthy, and loves his job. The only thing missing is female companionship and he has a plan to rectify that. His sights have been set on Kathy Stanley, an author who is compiling an oral history of the NFD. The frustrating part is she seems to be avoiding him. Kathy Stanley has been avoiding the young firefighter for months. He is too cute to interview. Part of her psyche is drawn to strong men of action and Bob is just that. The other part of her looks for an agile but poetic mind. After Bob produces a poem at her request, she is smitten. Her feelings are only heightened when he receives a diagnosis of MS and threatens to pull away. She must use all of her emotional and intellectual abilities to convince him they were meant to be together.

From Ahrens-Fox rigs with chain drives, open cabs, steering wheels on the right, and firefighters hanging on the back step to the air conditioned crew cabs of today, trucks used by the NFD are recalled by the men who drove them. The turn out gear worn to protect them while crawling through burning buildings is described, as is the evolution of the hose they pulled in with them. If you ever wondered what it was like to drive a rig with mechanical brakes and manual steering to a fire or drag 2 1/2" line up three flights of stairs, this book is for you. Follow the men of the NFD as they move from wooden ladders, rotary or piston positive displacement pumps, and filtered masks to today's modern rigs and positive pressure self contained breathing apparatus (SCBAs).Members of the NFD appointed between 1942 and 1978 remember from the days of iron men and wooden ladders when masks were rarely worn to the present day of PEOSHA regulations and enclosed air conditioned crew cabs. The evolution of rigs, turn-out gear, hose and nozzles, and ladders and tools is discussed, showing the steady progress of the fire service over the last half of the 20th century and into the new millennium. The only thing that hasn't changed through these decades is the dedication of firefighters.

A conflict rages within Newark firefighter Frank Helms. He loves his job, but knows a part of him needs more. He has plans to study for an MBA in international business and resign from the fire department. His wife Chingli wants him to resign now to take a position offered by her uncle. Is there a way to have both worlds? When a madman begins to shoot people who pull fireboxes, the tension between the two grows exponentially.

Read what it was like to go into a building everyone else was running or jumping from. Newark firefighters appointed between 1942 and 1978 describe their experiences on the scene of fires and assorted other emergencies to which they responded. Responding leaves the firehouse and rolls out into the streets of Newark where our work is done. You are brought into the fire building to share the satisfaction and sacrifices inherent in the fire service. Crawl down the hot dark hallways of fire buildings with Newark's bravest. The reader is introduced to responding and fire fighting procedures. Memorable fires from 1942 to 1966 are recounted along with unusual responses from the '40's to the '90's. Vivid memories of tragedies and lost brothers are re-lived with poignant honesty as the men continue to paint an unvarnished history of New Jersey's largest city.

In Riots to Renaissance the story of the Newark Fire Department from that fateful July in 1967 to the experiences of 2003 are recounted. This volume begins with the warning signs that an explosion was about to occur on Newark's streets. The men who fought the fires created by that explosion then describe in detail what they felt and how they dealt with the societal chaos that was Newark in July of 1967. If you have read A View from the Firehouse: The Newark Riots, you are familiar with the fire department history of those troubled nights. The stories told in this book will introduce you to how it felt and what members of the Newark Fire Department did to get through that time.The next chapters follow Newark and her fire department as they spiral downward until the city is nothing but a shell of its former self. It was said that wherever America's cities were going, Newark would get there first. During the 20 years that followed the Riots, it appeared America's cities would simply burn to the ground, but by the late 1980s hope had crept back into the picture. The members of the NFD were fighting fires and saving lives throughout this period when the city was transformed and reborn, some say becoming America's renaissance city. Follow Newark firefighters through the worst period in the history of the city and into an era of hope.

Why would anyone want to be a firefighter? If this question intrigues you, read on. This book will bring back personal memories to firefighters who read it. For those of you who are trying to understand why anyone would want to be a fireman, "Becoming a Firefighter" will introduce you to the special breed who quietly protect us everyday. Members of the NFD appointed from 1942 to 1978 recount their impressions of the city where most of them grew up. The why and how of getting on the job are remembered; as are training experiences, the make up of the department they joined, the hours they worked, and the salary they earned. Read the words of men from every rank of Newark's bravest as they tell of their efforts to get on "the best damn job in the world."