Retired Deputy Chief Robert Marchisello kept a journal during his 37-year career as a Philadelphia firefighter, which he thought he would leave for his children to read. However, with the encouragement from his family and friends, he published a book about his career.
He transcribed some of his journal entries written in pencil and asked others to read it. His family and fellow firefighters encouraged him to turn it into a novel. He used his journals as reference and it brought back memories.
“There were times I got tears in my eyes when I read them. Sometimes I had sleepless nights remembering incidents. You see some horrible things as a firefighter,” said Marchisello, a Springfield resident.