Taking Inventory
Source: tugboatinformation.com
Friday, March 5, 2021
I finished my inventory. Only 3 tugs remain a mystery (for now- I’ll do more digging at a later point). I highlighted them in yellow. After completing info on the year built, status, and latest ownership I scanned Jan Stacy’s writing for references to specific tugs in the chapters as well as the captions. Finally, I looked over all of the selected photos for the New York Tugs book that I had placed in folders on my laptop and highlighted them in green on the spreadsheet. (And in the process, I “found” 4 “new” tugs that I had not originally listed!)The idea is to focus specifically on these tugs in Chapter Nine. It would be really neat if I could find - and photograph - each of the ones that are still active (supposedly) and place them in the book. I am not sure if that would be the “right” thing to do, whether Jan and Lenny would have approved. I could include them as part of an Afterword, so that the original book remained as intended. But I keep coming back to the fact that it was not finished so I can’t really know what they have both envisioned.
I wish I could locate Wayne. Lenny’s old best friend, Wayne. But I don’t even know his last name. I know I could ask for some reason, I am avoiding it. And my parents don’t recall his last name. There are times when I am annoyed that the internet as we know it did not exist in the 1980’s. This is one of those times.
The more I looked at old images of the tugs and read about their “lives,” the more I wish I could talk to one of the crewmen that Lenny photographed. I have not received a response to my emails to either of the local tug companies so I think I might have to take a deep breath and contact the next of kin of a couple of the men. I will perhaps save that for Sunday. Tomorrow, the focus will be on the last two chapters - Eight & Nine. I want to make sure I have all of the original images designated for those chapters. Then, I think I will reread all of Jan Stacy’s Chapters so that I have context before writing an addition to Chapter Nine or a separate Afterword. I have not decided yet.
I want to have a full draft of the book prepared to show to any publishers who may be interested. I have compiled a list and want to contact folks but I am not sure how much I should share. What is the expectation? To show the completed work and hope that they will pick it up and craft a high quality version of it? Or pitch the book in progress and then they take over? That would certainly make things “easier” for me but to what extent would that lead to uncomfortable compromises? Is it best to leave things o “professionals” or try to do it all by myself, for the most part? What would Lenny and Jan want?
The photographer I emailed has not responded. He may not have checked his email linked to his website. Perhaps I need to pursue snail mail again? Perhaps I’ll be lucky a second time. In the interim, I think I need to continue to reach out to folks. I need some guidance. But I will continue to push forward as best I can in the meantime. Charles Mingus was helping me today. Some of his music sounds like work, like struggle, like the operation of heavy machinery under duress but with undertones of joy and passion and determination. He was so complex. I remember reading something in Miles’ autobiography of how the man would sometimes play these long, layered pieces that seemed to be all over the place. It made me think of a splattering of paint but the colors run into each other so well, so naturally. Humans are often like that - messy, vibrant - warm and cool colors all over the place but when Mingus plays it, I know it’s okay. I know it is what it means to be alive.
