A Captain from a suburban Fire Department shares over 100 stories from his 30-year career in this collection of anecdotes. It's not all guts and glory and running into burning buildings. There's also downtime, station life, and side jobs. He has seen people at their best and at their worst and everything in between. Just when you think you've seen it all, what looks like a routine call turns out to be anything but routine. Put it all together and you have an interesting study of human nature.Many of these stories will make you laugh, some will make you cry, and others will just make you stop and think. See life through his eyes, that of a career firefighter.This book is not just for firefighters. A glossary ensures that everyone can enjoy the stories, including those who may not be familiar with Fire Department jargon.

The book contains stories of the author's youth in a small Kentucky town in the 1940's and 1950's. He relates an array of experiences both funny and serious. In addition, he presents the agonizing details of torture in German and Japanese prison campe in WW ll for two soldiers from his home town, then a tribute to two local artists with extrodinary talents and finally perserves the lineage and heitage of a prominent family whose contributions to the community are unequaled.

The Professional Volunteer Fire Department by Tom Merrill highlights the importance of developing and upholding a professional reputation in the firefighting community, regardless of whether one is a paid or volunteer firefighter. Merrill emphasizes that professionalism is not tied to a paycheck but is instead defined by attitude, appearance, competency, commitment, and dedication. Endorsed by several Chiefs, this book is regarded as a must-read for all volunteer firefighters. It provides valuable insights into recruiting, retaining, and developing professional volunteer firefighters. Merrill's expertise challenges readers to elevate their performance and raise the standards within their departments, ultimately contributing to the overall professionalism of the volunteer fire service Through this captivating and informative book, Merrill aims to instill a sense of pride and service above self in volunteer firefighters. The book serves as a rallying call for those who are passionate about their service and ignites a fire within them to continue making a difference. Testimonials “If you can read this book and not feel a sense of pride, that overwhelming feeling of service above self, the feeling that what you do as a volunteer firefighter matters, then maybe it’s time for a change. But if you are the one who reads it and gets fired up about what we do, then you’re in for a very special ride!” —Chief Rick Lasky, Fire Chief (ret.), Lewisville Texas “Tom Merrill is a true gentleman and a professional. His classes and articles detailing professionalism in the volunteer fire service are captivating and informative. This book is no different and should be on the must-read list of all volunteer firefighters, regardless of rank, title, or experience.” —Brandon S. Fletcher, Fire Chief, Gilt Edge (TN) Fire Department “Tom Merrill has spent his life working to improve the ‘professional’ image of the volunteer firefighter. This book is a compilation of his experiences and what works and doesn’t work in the recruiting, retaining, and development of the professional volunteer firefighter. His writing challenges you to raise your standard of performance.” —Chief John M. Buckman III, State Fire Training Director at Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office

From its humble beginnings in 1884 as a one-story frame building with one bay to house Hose Company 4 and its team of horses, Engine Company 78 has been the firefighting sentinel at the end of Waveland Avenue, sitting in the shadow of Wrigley Field. Using vintage photographs and moving stories from firefighters themselves, Karen Kruse captures the spirit and heroism of this historic Chicago landmark. Captain Robert F. Kruse served the Chicago Fire Department for 30 years, half of those at Wrigleyville's Engine 78. Growing up within the tight-knit firefighting community, Ms. Kruse records the dramatic and touching stories from her father's and his peers' experiences, and combines them in this volume exploring the unique history of Lakeview's firehouse, including a foreword by Mike Ditka and preface by Fire Commissioner James Joyce. With details about little known historic districts and a brief guide to Chicago's cemeteries and their relations to firefighters, A Chicago Firehouse: Stories of Wrigleyville's Engine 78 relays in first-hand accounts some of Chicago's most fiery tragedies, the brave men who battled them, and the diversity of the neighborhood that housed them.

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."

Novels bring us into fictional worlds where we encounter the lives, struggles, and dreams of characters who speak to the underlying pulse of society and social change. In this book, post–World War II America comes alive again as literary critic Robert McParland tilts the rearview mirror to see the characters that captured the imaginations of millions of readers in the most popular and influential novels of the 1950s. This literary era introduced us to Holden Caulfield, Augie March, Lolita, and other antiheroes. Together with popular culture heroes such as Perry Mason and James Bond, they entertained thousands of readers while revealing the underlying currents of ambition, desire, and concern that were central to the American Dream. Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man and James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain and Giovanni’sRoom explored racial issues and matters of identity that reverberate still today. The works of Jack Kerouac, the Beat poets Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso, and the clever and creative William S. Burroughs and his Naked Lunch challenged conventional perspectives. The People We Meet in Stories will appeal to readers discovering these works for the first time and to those whose tattered paperbacks reveal a long relationship with these key works in American literary history.