“I could hear faint baby-like cries. … The net looked like a sinking raft with the tiny men entangled and trying to get free. … Some drifted out of the Gate and out of sight,” said Tex Lester, a steelworker who sat atop the south tower on February 17, 1937, witnessing the deadliest day in the history of the Golden Gate Bridge, and even to this day, the worst ever in the history of bridge construction. Before the accident, the safety net had saved the lives of nineteen workers from a certain death, a lucky elite party calling themselves the “Halfway to Hell Club.”
Charles Lindros, a thirty-year-old Swedish immigrant, was one of the men killed in the accident. This book tells the epic story of his origins in Sweden, his journey to America, and his whereabouts and life in the Humboldt County redwoods and San Francisco. The book touches on the stories of all the victims. Of the fourteen men there were three immigrants from Sweden, two from Ireland, and one from Denmark. The other eight men came from the American heartland. These were the forlorn men that never made it to the Club; they went the full distance, so to speak.
The story weaves together with the author’s own field trips to California and adventures tracing his Great-uncle Lindros’s footsteps. The stage is set against the backdrop of the dramatic events of America’s history in the twenties and thirties that shaped California and laid the foundation for stellar economic growth for decades to come.
Contents
1. The Cottage
2. Roots & Emigration, 1906-1925
3. Lindgren Brothers
4. San Francisco, 1925-1928
5. Olsson Brothers
6. Bernhard
7. Redwood Country, 1928-1931
8. Haglund
9. America in Depression
10. California in the Depression years
11. California Progresses
12. Mystery Boy, 2011-2013
13. Marie, 1911-1934
14. San Francisco, 1931-1936
15. The Golden Gate Bridge
16. Origins of the Rig Crew
17. Marie, 1937-1988
18. Chronology
19. Bibliography
20. Online Resources
21. Index
260 pages, exclusive trade paperback with a matt finish. 74 illustrations. Size 5.3 x 8.3 inches (140 x 210 mm), weight 12 oz. (330 gram).
Published on February 27, 2015.
Printed by Vulkan Media, Sweden.
www.vulkan.se
ISBN: 978-91-637-6956-6
In the US,
Online: Amazon.com, click here.
In addition to Amazon, we are looking for other retailers in the US and also a US-based distributor, so any suggestions you might have in that respect are welcome. Send us an email at hthc@walgar.se.
In Sweden,
Kalmar: Dillbergs
Karlstad: Akademibokhandeln
Online: Vulkan.se, click here.
Online: Adlibris.se, click here.
To the right: Guerilla marketing, Pocketshop Stockholm Arlanda airport, Terminal 5.
In Finland,
Helsinki: Akademiska Bokhandeln/ Akateeminen Kirjakauppa
Online: Adlibris.fi, click here.
Would you like to retail this title? For this or any other inquiries you might have, drop us an email at hthc@walgar.se.
To the right: Title is available at Akateeminen bookshop in Helsinki, by many considered the best bookshop in the Nordics.