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My crew at Engine 33 had a few nicknames. Since four out of five of us went from 220 to 300 lbs, we were called the biggest crew in the city. Someone else called us, the fighting-est crew because we if we didn’t have anybody else to bicker with, we would do it with ourselves. […]

Last week I lost one of my oldest friends to cancer. I have never met anyone more at peace with their legacy and their impending passing. Dave Saleh knew how to live life. And he exited it gracefully. I’ve known Dave for nearly 64 years. I passed his house every day on the way to […]

Watching the manipulative media or numbing video products on TV or on-line, one can get so seized by anxiety that they forget who they really are and where they came from. For better or worse, we inherited this world from those who came before us. Their finest efforts endure in paintings, sculptor, architecture, music, and […]

Yes, it’s a compulsion. I must make life as miserable as possible for Fern Ruben, the hero of my Young Adult book, Dark Spirit. Don’t get me wrong. I love Fern. But the more she suffers, the more she has to overcome. Then she can demonstrate her big heart to my readers. The lower I […]

One of the activities I have taken up in my quest to conquer the world of literature is to read the autobiography of great artists in any field. Frank Capra’s and Charlie Chaplin’s were extraordinary reads. Roger Corman inspired for the shear volume of energy he put into his work. Fred Astaire was an elegant […]

The best firehouses are haunted. You can feel the ghosts in the oil stains on the apparatus floor, the soot from exhaust embedded in the ceilings, the old wood soaked with the cigar smoke from long ago Captains, and the footsteps that wore down the tread in the stairs. Rookies hear the stories and the […]

My father-in-law has told me the story a hundred times. When he was a Captain he worked with a firefighter who was an incorrigible drunk. My father-in-law disiplined him, lectured him, reasoned with him. Nothing worked. He was determined to have this man transfered out of his firehouse. Then came the fire. A ladder was […]

Very exciting things happening. A second publisher offered me a contract for Torch Light. Now, I am already committed to All Things That Matter Press. But a second acceptance shows the quality and salability of the book. I am working on a marketing plan. I continue to compose my next two works, Dark Spirit, a […]

Today I received my first rejection letter on my story, Simon. Quirk Books was kind enough to take the time to tell me by mail that they would not be using my manuscript. On their part it demonstrates a gracious nature and regard for a new writer. Oh, how a writer, like any artist, must […]