My River Chronicle – Rediscovering the America on the Hudson, is a fascinating voyage in the life of a young woman, who finds herself oddly quite at home in a most unlikely new job. It is also a journey through the history of America itself as it moves from an industrial past into an uncertain future.

While working for a dot-com startup, started volunteering on a retired fire boat, the John J. Harvey. She was the first woman ever to run the engines. When her day job disappeared, she was offered a position on the fireboat where she spent so many hours as a volunteer. Over time, she became a licensed engineer on the historic fire boat, as well as the pilot on another tug.

My River Chronicle is a deft mix of DuLong’s personal memoir, mixed with the history of the mighty Hudson and the towns that line the shore, with a judicious dose of commentary thrown in for spice. The writing is graceful and engaging and she balances the various elements of her account with remarkable skill.

Jessica DuLong is refreshingly straight forward as she describes the challenges of being the first woman engineer on the John J. Harvey. You feel for her as she struggles with the levers at the engine controls. Built for a taller engineer, she needs to stand on her tip toes and use both hands to push the engine order telegraph all the way up to Full Ahead. You also share her amused victory as she carries in the wooden box on which she will stand to solve the problem. We follow the fireboat with DuLong at the engines on trips up river and down. The John J. Harvey is also the first fire boat on scene on 9/11, pumping river water around the clock to the firefighters at Ground Zero. The collapse of the towers cut all the water mains and the old “obsolete” fireboat proves herself invaluable once again.

As we travel the river, DuLong does something very interesting. While many mourn the passing of the pastoral, she mourns the passing of the industrial. As the river rolls by, she reminds us of what a dynamic place this great river valley once was, of all the jobs and of all that was created along the river banks. Rather than looking back fondly at a simpler, greener time, DuLong gives us a glimpse of when the foundries, mills, quarries and brick yards quite literally built New York City and indeed, the nation. With her as our guide, it is hard not to feel a certain nostalgia for those smoky, dirtier days.

There is much we have lost and much we have gained. If there is a balance yet to be struck, I will leave it to others to strike it. In the mean time, I will enjoy the river and if I am lucky enough, I will see the John J. Harvey pass by and will understand, at least in part, why Jessica DuLong and so many others love the old fireboat, and why it is important to remember and honor our past, as we find our way into the uncertain and yet inevitable future.

Jessica Dulong’s My River Chronicle – Rediscovering the America on the Hudson is a remarkable book. Highly recommended.