On Tuesday, June 23, a compelling novel by a local legend will be hitting the bookstores and online sites entitled, “Lifeguard, A Love Story.”
“The first time I ever saw a lifeguard get horned was in the summer of 1974,” begins the book. Written by New York City’s first female lifeguard chief, Janet Fash, it is an equally inspirational, entertaining and explosive memoir of Fash’s more than 40-year career. It is a personal account of a strong independent girl who becomes a defiant, incorruptible woman of a corrupt system.
Politics aside, it is a behind-the-scenes look at the life of being a female lifeguard in a traditional male profession, especially in the 1970s and ‘80s. The stories in these chapters tell the triumphs of the lives saved and the tragedies of the lives lost. The stories of the strong bonds formed by first responders, and the even stronger riffs created by the sophomoric hazing of females and rookies. Don’t be surprised if Fash punches out a deserving chauvinist or two.
As the title says, it is also a love story. Love of her family growing up on the streets of Brooklyn, love found on the beach of her supportive husband, and love for her coworkers, her job, and of course Rockaway Beach.
If you are a Rockaway local who lived here since the seventies and eighties, you will recognize some of the characters, drinking establishments and incidents portrayed in the book. If you are a DFD (“down for the day” as the lifeguards and locals refer to you), it will give you greater insight into the pressure and stress, as well as the ways they relieve that stress, that the man or woman sitting in that high chair faces.
The book is a page turner that will keep you entertained throughout. At times, the book has the zaniness of the movie “Animal House,” other times the movie “Norma Rae.”
The book, published by Simon and Schuster and co-written by Clio Chang, is available starting June 23 on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Walmart, Target, etc. Fash will be debuting it at a book signing at the Barnes and Noble in Park Slope, where she’s originally from, on June 23. Additionally, the now Long Island resident will be doing book signings at The Next Chapter, a bookstore in Huntington on June 25, and in Manasquan’s Book Towne at the Shore Restaurant on July 15.
