On Sat, Nov 4, 2017 at 6:37 AM, John Sundman <[email protected]> wrote:
> Here is a short (nonfiction) story about a fire call I responded to the > other night. > > I’ve recreated it from the twitter threat that was its original format. > > Passing along to Silklist because (a) I think you might find the story > interesting in itself & (b) it naturally causes me to reflect on the > staccato, “just the facts, ma’am” style of storytelling that Twitter > enforces. It’s an artificial constraint, but the discipline does really > force you, I think, to learn how to be economical and direct. > > November 30 will be my last day as a firefighter. > > Comments welcome. > > ++++ > > I'm a firefighter. I'm also a novelist. Had an interesting call last > night. Prompted some big (for me, anyway) thoughts. > > No person or animal was injured; we saved the building and most of the > contents. (There was water & smoke damage.) Still, it was tragic. > > The call came in around 9 PM. I was home. Earlier that evening I had > worked out at the firehouse, then attended a lecture on Checkov. > > "Structure fire at [address]. Detached home office; flame visible." I got > there just after the ladder truck, where my gear is stowed. > > As I geared up some other firefighters were connecting a supply line to a > hydrant; others were already attacking the fire. > > I grabbed an air pack but Chief hollered to me, "Forget the pack. Give me > some lights. Light up this scene!" So I began to do that. > > The building on fire was downhill from the main house, across a lawn, 100 > feet from the road. I dragged a power cord & light there, etc. > > The fire was soon knocked down & the long process of "salvage & overhaul" > began. A man and a woman watched from a porch on the house. > > The man was the novelist Ward Just. Lost in the fire was the only > manuscript of a novel he had been working on for 3 years. Gone. Ashes. > > I had met him & his wife before, sat next tot them at a dinner party. > There's lots more to the story but that's enough for now. > > I wasn't going to make this public, Chief might not be happy with me, but > a lost Ward Just novel is a big story, & he was a journalist. > > I asked myself, If our positions were reversed, if he was the firefighter > & I the famous writer, would Ward Just have tweeted this out? > > I believe he would have. Further, this is just the kind of scenario that > might appear in one of his novels. It's nearly Checkovian. > > I offered condolences, helped disconnect hoses, etc, went back to station, > helped but truck back in order, re-packed my gear. > > Ward Just writes his novels on a manual typewriter. That also was ruined > in the fire. > > It was about 1:30 AM when I went to bed. Today I'm going to find a few > hours to work on my latest novel. I'll back up my work. > > ++++ > > jrs > Its terribly sad to lose work done over three years; and, to lose the instrument used to create that work. I have trained on a manual typewriter many years ago (that is, took formal training for a full year at a *typing institute* in Bangalore during my 9th standard; was not allowed to take up the typewriting exam). Also, we had a Remington typewriter and a German portable typewriter at home. It takes time and effort to get used to another typewriter, assuming one can be found easily. Some people are particular about the computer keyboard used for daily work. For example, the TVSE Gold keyboard for desktop computers used to be a favorite many years ago in India because it returned a sharp click every time a key was used unlike the soft keys on some of other keyboards. To be comfortable in using a new manual typewriter on a regular basis (again, assuming that's what the writer will do) could be a whole lot different. Anil
