Up here in Sussex County, where I live, we got hit hard enough so that almost everyone lost power, and some still haven't gotten it back yet. It was bad. Trees came down all over, but it wasn't as bad as Irene last year.
But the coastal areas of New Jersey have been devastated, along with New York City, where the transit system is not back up to speed yet and much of Manhattan is still dark, and especially Staten Island, which got clobbered from all sides. In these places, the people are still suffering a week after the storm.
Mr. Bachman, the hero/teacher of Heartless Cruelty, would be running around rescuing whoever he could in the hard hit shore town of Atlantis, except for one small fact: he's fictional.
But we aren't fictional, are we? That's why we have to do something. I'm going to start here: I will donate a portion of all royalties from sales of my book, Heartless Cruelty, to a fund to rebuild the devastated areas, beginning with all the books sold last night at our wonderful event at Sparta Books, and continuing through the rest of 2012.
The plan is to call this
The Atlantis Fund. I don't know yet how the legal ins and outs of fundraising will complicate things, so for now, I will be putting money into an account every time a book sells. If you would like to add to this fund other than by buying copies of
Heartless Cruelty, you can send a check to me at 57 Compton Road, Sussex, NJ 07461. When my accountant tells me how to do it, I will set up an actual named charity; until then, make your check out to me, and put
ATLANTIS FUND on the memo line.
Booksellers who are carrying
Heartless Cruelty: maybe you would like to join in the effort.
This is what we do, isn't it? We pull together when others need help. Just when you think that people are so polarized that nobody wants to care for his neighbor, a crisis happens, and we are reminded of the things that matter most.
I'll end this lengthy post with a thank you to Bruce Springsteen for writing "Land of Hope & Dreams,"
and for performing it last night with the E Street Band.
These lyrics are the intellectual property of Bruce Springsteen and I sure hope he doesn't mind me reposting them here.
Grab
your ticket and your suitcase
Thunder's
rolling down this track
Well
you don't know where you're goin' now
But
you know you won't be back
Well
darlin' if you're weary
Lay
your head upon my chest
We'll
take what we can carry
Ya,
and we'll leave behind the rest
Well,
big wheels rolling through fields
Where
sunlight streams
Meet
me in a land of hope and dreams
Well
I will provide for you
Ya
and I'll stand by your side
You'll
need a good companion now
For
this part of your ride
Ya
leave behind your sorrows
Ya
this day at last
Well
tomorrow there'll be sunshine
And
all this darkness past
Well,
big wheels rolling through fields
Where
sunlight streams
Oh
meet me in a land of hope and dreams
Well
this train
Carries
saints and sinners
This
train
Carries
losers and winners
This
train
Carries
whores and gamblers
This
train
Carries
lost souls
This
train
Dreams
will not be thwarted
This
train
Faith
will be rewarded
This
train
Hear
the steel wheels singing
This
train
Bells of freedom ringing