Firefighters and their Children
Every picture tells a story, and this one is just wonderful. My father, Dan Cronin, was a lieutenant in the New York Fire Department. He worked in the Bronx for 30 years, from 1960-1991. That era included some of the darkest days in NYC, known in the FDNY as "The War Years." As a young firefighter, he was at a house fire in the Bronx. The front porch collapsed as a firefighter was standing on its roof; my father leaned out the window above and held onto his brother firefighter. The scene was photographed, and made the front page of the Daily News! My father kept a yellowed copy of that front page, and apparently wrote to the Daily News asking for a copy of the photo. He kept this in a battered old frame next to his desk in the basement of my parents' house. It was a treasured family memento, made even more precious after my father died of cancer in May 2006. Just a few weeks later, we discovered the existence of New York's Bravest, an amazing book of photographs. To see our treasured photo on the cover of this book was astounding! Everyone in the family ordered a copy, and the book is chock full of dramatic and gritty photographs. I highly recommend it; you can order it from the website http://www.nyfirestore.com
I feel that firefighting is a family mission; so much of what a firefighter does affects family life profoundly. That's why I wrote Trucks, Boots, and Bells. It's a collection of poems about firefighters, their work, and their children. I am working hard at finding the publisher who will see its value and publish this book! Trucks, Boots, and Bells won the SCBWI's Kimberly Colen Grant in February 2007; I am hoping that will give it the visibility it deserves.