New York's Folk-Hero Firefighter

New York's Bravest, by Mary Pope Osborne (Knopf, US$15.95 (32p) ISBN 0375821961)

Move over, Paul Bunyan, there's a new tall-tale hero in town.

Well, not exactly a new hero.

In the New York City of the 1840s lived a legendary firefighter named Mose Humphreys. Standing eight feet tall, with "hands as big as Virginia hams," he fought fires all around the great city, striding towards danger with his flaming red hair under his stovepipe hat. Whether rescuing babies from flaming tenements or bankers from burning hotels, Mose was beloved by all New Yorkers for his bravery and selflessness.

Mary Pope Osborne's story, in true American folktale tradition, renders a loving portrait of a man who symbolizes all that we respect and admire in firefighters: courage, willing sacrifice, tireless service to others. These traits were never so dramatically demonstrated as they were on the morning of September 11, 2001, and the story is a fitting tribute to the 343 New York City firefighters lost on that tragic day.

Though dedicated to the memory of modern firefighters, the gritty tones of Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher's illustrations remind us that this is also a tale about firefighting in a city overcrowded with wood-framed buildings and illuminated by oil lamps, when water had to be physically pumped out of tank trucks with enough force to reach the upper floors of very modest buildings, and when firemen needed the strength to carry grown adults rung by rung down wooden ladders. The nineteenth century was a time when fire was a very real possibility, not an unfortunate occurrence that happens to others and played out on our TV screens.

Together, the text and illustrations bring Mose Humphreys to life brilliantly, and make him a potent symbol of the strength, valor, and sacrifice of all firefighters--in New York City and around the world.

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