A View from the Backstep
ON THE BOOK SHELF
By John M. Malecky June, 2024
A View from the Backstep
By J. M. Kearny
Available from:
FSP Books & Videos
433 Main Street
Hudson, MA 01749
1-800-522-8528
e-mail: support@fire-police-ems.com
www.fire-police-ems.com
Price: $12.99
This is a soft cover book, measuring 6 inches by 9 inches, with 204 pages. The author is a retired FDNY firefighter who worked mostly in the Bronx at some of the busiest firehouses in what we can call the “old days” of with the old fire department when the lives of the people came first and those of the firefighters came last, not like the “New Fire Department” in which the firefighter’s lives come fist and the public last. There is a full explanation about this in the book. The book covers 49 short stories about fellow firefighters and firehouse living and routines, incidents, specific fires and neighborhoods, people who lived in these neighborhoods who frequented the firehouses, unions, personalities, particularly officers and men who were strong leaders and followers, some of which worked during the “War Years” of the 1970’s and some of the 1980’s. There is a lot of pats on the back in these stories. Two of the men written about who were excellent firefighters eventually were murdered on 9-11-01. The book is a real page turner, which I finished in about three days only because I had other things to do. If not, I would have finished it in less time. At a reasonable price, it is well worth the investment. This happens to be the Part II, however I was unaware of Part 1 which I’m sure was equally interesting.
No information from the author.
