Former Fireman Pays Tribute to Women in Firefighting

Female fighters are nothing new; they have been around for decades. However, only a few books were written or movies made about them. Novelist Eugene Welischar refuses to let it pass by making a female fighter – and single mother – the protagonist of his second novel titled “In Over Your Head: Attack on Times Square Y2k” (AuthorHouse, 2015).
 
The author recognizes that career boundaries have eroded and gendered barriers have softened. “Women wanted equal opportunity in employment,” the author said at the beginning of his “Preface,” which acquaints readers with a background history of women in the New York City Fire Department, where the author was formerly employed.
 
Woman were first admitted to the Fire Department in the late 70’s, but a war of the sexes soon arose when female candidates who failed the ‘tough’ physical exam took their grievances to court. Those who passed were relegated to desk jobs or support roles; some of them were excluded from meals and social functions in the firehouse, and others suffered some forms of discrimination.
 
The system would eventually improve over the years. Women began to take on all roles, even joining their male counterparts on the front lines. They are even promoted, just like the novel’s protagonist Mary Walsh, a first-grade firefighter who becomes lieutenant in “In Over Your Head.”
 
“In Over Your Head” brims with action and suspense (the novel revolves around a terror plot in New York City) and drama (since the story involves a female protagonist). Readers will find not only a suspenseful story that grips them from the start but also a moment to reflect on the emergence of women in traditional male-dominated occupations.
 
Welischar’s “In Over Your Head: Attack on Times Square Y2k” are available on Amazon and AuthorHouse.
 
 
“In Over Your Head: Attack on Times Square Y2k”
Written by Eugene Welischar
Published by AuthorHouse
Published date: February 17, 2015
Paperback price: $16.95
 
About the Author
 
Eugene L. Welischar has thirty-nine years of service in the New York City Fire Department, Police Department, and the Coast Guard Reserves. He is a veteran of the Korean War. “In Over Your Head” is his second book about the New York City Fire Department. His first novel is “If You Play with Fire.” He presently resides in Long Beach, New York, and Sarasota, Florida.
 

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