The Greatest Firefighter Stories Never Told


Book Description

Collection of fifteen stories of heroism.




The Greatest Survivor Stories Never Told


Book Description

A seventeen-year-old girl survives a plane crash in the Amazon and, despite maggots festering in her open wounds, finds her way to help and safety. This amazing story of courage and luck, which leaves the young woman the lone survivor from a wreck that claimed her mother and 90 other passengers, is only one of many riveting stories from Allan Zullo's and Mara Bovsun's new book on survival. In The Greatest Survival Stories Never Told, readers can learn all about real survivors like the Honduran mother of three who drifts in the sea for days after Hurricane Mitch destroys her home and family. In her case, a red bra was the key to survival since the brightly colored object finally caught the attention of the Coast Guard flying nearby.Or they can read about the New York businessman who endures thirteen days in a muddy hole after kidnappers demand that his family put up three million bucks for his return. As he sits in the cramped, dark pit, he composes his autobiography aloud to save his sanity until his rescue.In The Greatest Survival Stories Never Told, dozens of stories of grit and heart will inspire readers everywhere. The book makes for exhilarating reading.




Last Man Down


Book Description

A first responder’s harrowing account of 9/11—the inspirational true story of an American hero who gave nearly everything for others during one of New York City’s darkest hours. On September 11, 2001, FDNY Battalion Chief Richard “Pitch” Picciotto answered the call heard around the world. In minutes, he was at Ground Zero of the worst terrorist attack on American soil, as the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center began to burn—and then to buckle. A veteran of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, Picciotto was eerily familiar with the inside of the North Tower. And it was there that he concentrated his rescue efforts. It was in its smoky stairwells where he heard and felt the South Tower collapse. He made the call for firemen and rescue workers to evacuate, while he stayed behind with a skeleton team of men to help evacuate a group of disabled and infirm civilians. And it was in the rubble of the North Tower where Picciotto found himself buried—for more than four hours after the building’s collapse.




Mews Items


Book Description

Mews Items celebrates the enigmatic nature of the cat with more than 150 amazing and astounding stories that will leave cat lovers of all ages clawing for more.




The Rescuer


Book Description

He helped save people every day—but he had no idea how to save himself. Jason Sautel had it all. Confident in his abilities and trusted by his fellow firefighters, he was making a name for himself on the streets of Oakland, California. His adrenaline-fueled job even helped him forget the pain of his childhood—until the day he looked into the eyes of a jumper on the Bay Bridge and came face to face with a darkness he knew would take him down as well. In the following months, a series of traumatic emergency calls—some successful, others impossible-to-forget failures—drove Jason deeper into depression. Even as he continued his lifesaving work, he realized he could never rescue everyone, and he had no idea how to save himself. In the end, Jason was forced to confront the truth: only the relentless power of love could pull him back from his own deadly fall. Action-packed, spiritually honest, and surprisingly romantic, The Rescuer transports readers inside the pulse-pounding world of firefighting and into the heart of a man who needed to be broken before he could finally be made whole.




Battling Blazes


Book Description

Find out what skills are needed, what's in a day's work, and where firefighting can take you. You'll also learn fire facts and fire safety tips. Whether working in the city or the remote countryside, as a fire investigator, or even fighting fires from the air, firefighting is a hot career!--From publisher description.




Writer's Guide to Nonfiction


Book Description

A WRITER’S COMPASSDirection for your writing career Don’t get lost on the publishing path. Just forge ahead with the Writer’s Compass. Drawing on decades of professional experience as an author, editor, writing instructor, mentor, and marketing consultant, Elizabeth Lyon helps you navigate the art and craft of writing—with clear, easy-to-follow directions: NORTH Getting Your Bearings Understand your purpose and your audience; learn to refine your ideas, select effective titles, and find the best method of organization for any piece SOUTH Troubleshooting Use checklists and guidelines to spot weaknesses and problems in leads, organization, conclusions, and style—and find out how to correct them EAST Learning to Market Map a successful cover letter, query letter, or proposal, and discover a four-step process to facilitate publication and sales WEST Refining Your Vision Brainstorm to gain perspective on your writing—and how it fits with your values, goals, and dreams




Fire Fighters


Book Description

Firefighters have long been among the most admired men and women in our culture, and recent events have shown how well-placed that admiration is—adding fuel to our innate fascination with stories about fire and the people who risk their lives to fight it. Some of our best writers are drawn to the subject of firefighting, and over the years they have created a rich body of literature. Fire Fighters offers the most exciting and compelling stories from that body of work, including accounts of devastating fires from New York to Yellowstone, as well as smaller blazes that have turned particularly ugly or dangerous. Selections include Jimmy Breslin's eulogy for the men who died in the famous Chelsea fire, Norman McLean on the Great Gulch forest fire that killed nine young smokejumpers, John McPhee on fires in the Pine Barrens, Studs Terkel's interview with a fire fighter, and riveting accounts of the FDNY's role in the September 11 tragedy and its aftermath. 16 black-and-white photos are also featured.




Report from Ground Zero


Book Description

The tragic events of September 11, 2001, forever altered the American landscape, both figuratively and literally. Immediately after the jets struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center, Dennis Smith, a former firefighter, reported to Manhattan’s Ladder Co. 16 to volunteer in the rescue efforts. In the weeks that followed, Smith was present on the front lines, attending to the wounded, sifting through the wreckage, and mourning with New York’s devastated fire and police departments. This is Smith’s vivid account of the rescue efforts by the fire and police departments and emergency medical teams as they rushed to face a disaster that would claim thousands of lives. Smith takes readers inside the minds and lives of the rescuers at Ground Zero as he shares stories about these heroic individuals and the effect their loss had on their families and their companies. “It is,” says Smith, “the real and living history of the worst day in America since Pearl Harbor.” Written with drama and urgency, Report from Ground Zero honors the men and women who—in America’s darkest hours—redefined our understanding of courage.




On Fire


Book Description

NOW WITH A FOREWORD BY RON RASH AND AN APPRECIATION BY DWIGHT GARNER “One of the finest books I know about blue-collar work in America, its rewards and frustrations . . . If you are among the tens of millions who have never read Brown, this is a perfect introduction.” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times On January 6, 1990, after seventeen years on the job, Larry Brown quit the Oxford, Mississippi, fire department to try writing full-time. In On Fire, he looks back on his life as a firefighter. His unflinching accounts of daily trauma—from the blistering heat of burning trailer homes to the crunch of broken glass at crash scenes—catapult readers into the hard reality that drove this award-winning novelist. As a firefighter and fireman-turned-author, as husband and hunter, and as father and son, Brown offers insights into the choices men face pursuing their life’s work. And, in the forthright style we expect from Larry Brown, his narrative builds to the explanation of how one man who regularly confronted death began to burn with the desire to write about life.