New Book About the American Red Cross Available at Forty Percent Discount During March -- Red Cross Month

Blood, Sweat and Tears: An Oral History of the American Red Cross (E Street Press; $22.95 hardcover; 2006), is available for $13.75 via www.estreetpress.com in March to commemorate Red Cross month. One dollar from the sale of each book benefits the Southeastern Mississippi and Southeast Louisiana chapters of the American Red Cross, two chapters still recovering from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Greenwich, CT (PRWEB) March 17, 2007 -- Blood, Sweat and Tears: An Oral History of the American Red Cross (E Street Press; $22.95 hardcover; 2006), is available for $13.75 via www.estreetpress.com in March to commemorate Red Cross month. One dollar from the sale of each book benefits the Southeastern Mississippi and Southeast Louisiana chapters of the American Red Cross, two chapters hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Blood, Sweat and Tears is the first narrative history of the American Red Cross since the 1950s, and features 70 photographs and illustrations, including vintage Red Cross posters. In the book, journalist and former American Red Cross staff member Michele Turk tells the story of the organization through the voices of its tireless volunteers and staff.

Blood, Sweat and Tears features individuals from 15 states. "Their stories are the story of the Red "Their stories are the story of the Red Cross, a saga ripe with drama, glory, triumph, sadness and disappointment," observes Turk. "As I began to interview Red Crossers, I found each personal vignette more fascinating than the next. Their voices, dedication and spirit are the heart of the Red Cross and the reason the charity has endured many controversies and crises over the years."

Turk shares the recollections of twenty-nine current and former American Red Cross paid and volunteer staff members from all parts of the country. The stories range from that of a World War II veteran who credits Red Cross packages with keeping him alive when he was a POW in Germany to volunteers who spent an intense year in Vietnam cheering up soldiers.

Turk shares the story of a staffer who pulled people from an automobile before the medics arrived; a mom who saved a neighbor's drowning child, a nurse who took off from her job to go half-way around the world to distribute food and supplies to the victims of the tsunami that struck the day after Christmas 2004 and a Red Cross worker whose home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

In addition, there are several other first person accounts by American Red Cross disaster services workers on the scene of major disasters, including the September 11th terrorist attacks and the Oklahoma City bombing.

"As a former disaster relief worker and journalist, I have seen firsthand--both on the scene of Hurricane Hugo in the Caribbean, and more recently in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina--how the American public turns instinctively to the Red Cross both for help and to assist those in need after an emergency," notes Turk.

Blood, Sweat and Tears is also for sale on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com and in select bookstores.

Michele Pullia Turk is a journalist and editor whose work has appeared in USA Weekend, Parents, Shape and Businessweek magazines, Lifetime TV and The Washington Post. Her involvement with the Red Cross began when she worked as a disaster specialist for the American Red Cross in Greater New York and as a writer for a Website at American Red Cross national headquarters in Washington, DC.

For a review copy or for further information, send an email to: contactus (at) estreetpress.com.

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