Anthracite Boot Camp

This is a true story about life around Pennsylvania coal mines in the middle of the 20th century as seen through the eyes of a boy as he grows from age 8 through 17 while working under the intense guidance of a hard-working father, including:

• Dangerous events, as seen on the book's cover in a view of a dragline about to topple into a deep pit, or when he must crawl under a roaring dragline on the side of a hill, or when a mine's roof suddenly collapses at his feet .

• A collection of humorous events as when miners frighten the 9-year-old into believing he is pursued by a hungry bear, or tease him with crude stories about women that the boy doesn't understand, but naively repeats to his horrified mother, or when he eventually adopts his father's practice of hilarious but dangerous pranks.

• An adventure as when the boy travels underground at age 11 to assist miners in black chambers where they can barely fit, or when at age 13 he enters an abandoned mine with his father to help drill and blast a drain hole beneath a water-filled strip mine, or when a young teenager, he operates bulldozers, steam-shovels, and dump-trucks; but sometimes unsafely.

• As background, a historical reminder of the plight of European immigrants, their typical issues with prearranged marriages, and their typical response when rudely awakened to un-anticipated hardships that prevailed in coal fields.

• A reliable account of the mining methods, means, equipment, and terminology applied by the miners of that period of time, including their clandestine organizations, questionable motives, and amusing pastimes.

• A final chapter that includes the valuable lessons handed down from previous generations of miners, including a description of the manner in which these lessons can help our current society improve its' quality of service to country, clients, family, and humanity.

. References to classic music that help the reader interpret the level of passion surrounding emotional events.