Thoughts on Fire: Life Lessons of a Volunteer Firefighter - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

"Dr. Frank" McCluskey leads a double life. By day he is a Professor of Philosophy at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, New York. At night Dr. Frank is a volunteer firefighter and ambulance driver. He took his Ph.D. from the New School in New York City. He was awarded the prize for best dissertation in Philosophy. Dr. Frank was a National Endowment of the Humanities Post Doctoral Fellow at Yale University. In 1988, he joined the Mahopac Falls Volunteer Fire Department. Since that time he has won a number of awards including "Firefighter of the Year". His double life as a firefighting philosopher has been the subject of many stories including those in The New York Times, The Canadian Broadcasting Company and Broadcast New York. Dr. McCluskey has appeared on PBS Business Channel with Joan Lundon and Dave Barry.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Preface

Great is truth, fire cannot burn it, and water cannot drown it. -Alexander Dumas

Poetry comes nearer to vital truth than history. -Plato

We all live many lives. Sometimes we are brave and other times we are unsure of our steps. Often we know the way and other times we feel lost. There are times of initiation and times of mastery. There are periods we are proud and times we feel humble.

This is a book about two passions. It is a book about two lives lived side by side. In one of my lives I am a professor of philosophy. In that life, I love to make people think. I get excited when people ask questions about ideas they have believed for years. It has been my pleasure to hear, on occasion, that I have changed the way someone thinks. I enjoy being a guide in the exploration of that undiscovered country called "philosophy."

In my other life, I am a volunteer firefighter. In that world, I have broken down doors, smashed through the windows of cars, and stood inside fires that have melted the plumbing. In that life I have seen a baby being born. I have been present at the moment of death. There have been times when I have taken off my fire helmet, sat down, and cried because my heart was broken.

Volunteer firefighters often don t have the same time to think about ideas the way philosophy professors do. Firefighters live in a world where decisions must be made rapidly. They must always be prepared for that moment when life hangs in the balance. Firefighting can be a constant meditation on excellence, courage, and what it means to be human.

This book is a record of the intersection of these two passions. Each chapter begins by raising a philosophical question. We will look at ideas such as fear, happiness, and trust. Each chapter also contains a story from my experiences in the world of firefighting or emergency medical services. I have tried to weave together philosophical questions and stories of firefighting so that each one can illuminate the other.

The people depicted in this book are real people, the places depicted in this book are real places, and the events depicted in this book actually occurred. To make these stories easier to follow, I have combined incidents, characters, and times. Instead of recording the hundreds of characters and dozens of locations, I have compressed them into a book that is readable. In other words, I have taken real people, real events, and created a story. In the appendix I thank many of those whose stories have been included in this manuscript. The stories as they appear here are mostly true. You have my word on it. I have written an account of small-town life and the pleasures of everyday experience. I have tried to capture the rhythms of life of the small-town volunteer fire department. This is a book about the intersection of words and deeds. Most of all, this is the story of homecoming and forgiveness. It is an American tale.