Boarding the Westbound

This unique book is both a history and a testament. As a history it covers the era of the Depression and the unfolding effect of the early twentieth century immigrations on American society, the labor movement and the generation that followed. Joseph Szalanski is a spokesman for that generation. The testament is a hobo-diary painstakingly written day by day by his father-a man who lived the Depression and lived through it. Together the history and the testament (plus a select gathering of photographs) give us a portrait of an era that is as central to American life as it is incomparable and unforgettable.

- Samuel Hazo

Director of the International Poetry Forum