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Jessica DuLong

Goodreads Author

Born

The United States

Website

http://www.jessicadulong.com

Twitter

jessicadulong

Genre

Nonfiction, Biographies & Memoirs, History

Influences

Dorothy Allison, Susan Orlean, Rick Bragg, Russell Shorto, Joe Bageant ...more

Member Since

April 2010

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Journalist, historian, and author Jessica DuLong is also a U.S. Coast Guard-licensed merchant marine officer and one of the world's only female fireboat engineers.

DuLong's latest book, DUST TO DELIVERANCE: UNTOLD STORIES FROM THE MARITIME EVACUATION ON SEPTEMBER 11 (McGraw-Hill, 2017), shares the captivating saga of the September 11th boat lift, when ferries, dinner boats, and other vessels spontaneously converged to rescue nearly 500,000 stranded people from Manhattan. A tale of compassion, triumph, and resilience, the book is rooted in eyewitness accounts that bring to light the resourcefulness and resounding human goodness that rise up in response to darkness, calamity, and turmoil.

Winner of the 2010 American Society of Journalists and Journalist, historian, and author Jessica DuLong is also a U.S. Coast Guard-licensed merchant marine officer and one of the world's only female fireboat engineers.

DuLong's latest book, DUST TO DELIVERANCE: UNTOLD STORIES FROM THE MARITIME EVACUATION ON SEPTEMBER 11 (McGraw-Hill, 2017), shares the captivating saga of the September 11th boat lift, when ferries, dinner boats, and other vessels spontaneously converged to rescue nearly 500,000 stranded people from Manhattan. A tale of compassion, triumph, and resilience, the book is rooted in eyewitness accounts that bring to light the resourcefulness and resounding human goodness that rise up in response to darkness, calamity, and turmoil.

Winner of the 2010 American Society of Journalists and Authors Outstanding Book Award for memoir, DuLong's first book, MY RIVER CHRONICLES: REDISCOVERING THE WORK THAT BUILT AMERICA (Free Press, 2009) was lauded as "elegantly written" by Gay Talese. "Jessica DuLong's My River Chronicles brings the past of the Hudson River into the vivid present," wrote Talese, "and carries forward the craft of literary non-fiction with grace and energy."

Her journalism has appeared in NEWSWEEK INTERNATIONAL, ROLLING STONE, PSYCHOLOGY TODAY, COSMOGIRL!, PARENTING, TODAY'S MACHINING WORLD, MARITIME REPORTER & ENGINEERING NEWS, and other publications. Her passion for the Hudson River took shape at her post in the diesel exhaust-filled engine room of retired New York City fireboat JOHN J. HARVEY (www.fireboat.org), where temperatures climb to 130 degrees. She and her crewmates were recognized in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD following their service pumping water to firefighters at Ground Zero following the September Eleventh attacks, and were featured as characters in NEW YORKER illustrator Maira Kalman's award-winning children's book FIREBOAT: THE HEROIC ADVENTURES OF THE JOHN J. HARVEY. Today, the 1931 vessel, dubbed "Ambassador of the Hudson," operates as a living museum, offering free public trips around New York harbor and an annual whistle-stop tour up the Hudson River, with DuLong at the engine room controls. ...more

61 posts
Jessica DuLong's Blog

It’s ALIVE!

The captivating saga of the September 11th boat lift, when, ferries, dinner boats, and other vessels spontaneously converged to rescue nearly 500,000 stranded people from Manhattan

Nearly a decade after I embarked on this project, my latest book is ALIVE! I just received a box full of copies of DUST TO DELIVERANCE: Untold Stories from the Maritime Evacuation on September 11 in the mail, and

Combine Editions
Jessica DuLong’s books

Average rating: 3.93 · 108 ratings · 20 reviews · 3 distinct works • Similar authors

	My River Chronicles: Rediscovering America on the Hudson 3.88 avg rating — 92 ratings — published 2009 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dust to Deliverance: Untold Stories from the Maritime Evacuation on September 11th by Jessica DuLong (Goodreads Author), Du Long 4.19 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 2017 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Saved at the Seawall: Stories from the September 11 Boat Lift 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

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Jessica’s Writing

My River Chronicles READING GROUP GUIDE (Biographies & Memoirs)

2 chapters — updated May 28, 2010 08:32AM

Description: Introduction and Discussion Questions

Jessica is Currently Reading

Jessica DuLong is currently reading

Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost Its Soul

by Jeremiah Moss

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Aug 15, 2017 07:49PM

Jessica DuLong is currently reading

The Gypsy Moth Summer

by Julia Fierro (Goodreads Author)

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Aug 15, 2017 07:48PM

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Hope in the Dark

by Rebecca Solnit

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Aug 15, 2017 07:48PM

Topics Mentioning This Author

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Goodreads Authors...: * Welcome Nonfiction Authors and Readers!	997	3333	9 hours, 32 min ago

Jessica’s Quotes

“Jessica DuLong’s elegantly written "My River Chronicles" brings the past of the Hudson River into the vivid present, and carries forward the craft of literary non-fiction with grace and energy.”
― Gay Talese

2 likes

“When Jessica DuLong describes her work in the engine room of the John J. Harvey, you can practically feel the throb of the boat’s mighty diesels. This is someone who has paid some dues, and it shows in the details. "My River Chronicles" explores the dignity of work, offering an account of what made this country thrive, and might yet again: men and women who aren’t content to stand around with their hands in their pockets. The book reeks of penetrating oil which may be just what is needed to get our economy, and our culture, moving again.”
― Matthew B. Crawford, Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work

3 likes

“In rich and captivating prose, Jessica DuLong kindly invites the rest of us on the journey of her lifetime: from a dot-com job to the fabled waters of the Hudson River, where she became a fireboat engineer. This is an unusual and fascinating book.”
― Jon Meacham, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House

2 likes

“If you’ve ever wondered what we’re missing by sitting at computers in cubicles all day, follow Jessica DuLong when she loses her desk job and embarks on this unlikely but fantastic voyage. Deeply original, riveting to read, and soul-bearingly honest, "My River Chronicles" is a surprisingly infectious romance about a young woman falling in love with a muscle-y old boat. As DuLong learns to navigate her way through a man’s world of tools and engines, and across the swirling currents of a temperamental river, her book also becomes a love letter to a nation. In tune with the challenges of our times, DuLong reminds us of the skills and dedication that built America, and inspires us to renew ourselves once again.”
― Trevor Corson, The Story of Sushi: An Unlikely Saga of Raw Fish and Rice

2 likes