num_pages: 412
description: Despiteor maybe because ofthe repetitious toil regular exposure to weather extremes andsmelly proximity of large animals farm life on the Great Plains was a blessing for Martin Kufus.It instilled a work ethic tolerance for unpleasantness and appreciation of the outdoorseven ifKufus didnt follow his forefathers into agriculture. The tractor-driving manure-shoveling farmboy instead would become a camera-packing newspaper reporter Russian-speaking Armyparatrooper foreign correspondent (briefly) in the Middle East editor of a controversial militarymagazine volunteer firefighter and flood rescuer homeland-security specialist and armed guardon a cargo ship in African-pirate waters. These and other experiences comprise 26 whistle stopschapters A is for America through Z is for Zodiac in the narrative journey Plow the Dirt butWatch the Sky. Kufus unvarnished descriptions of mistakes tragedies and family dysfunctionadditionally give this book a self-revelatory quality (perhaps familiar to readers of working-classnonfiction like J.D. Vances Hillbilly Elegy). A well-lived life doesnt require wealth a famoussurname or a metropolitan upbringing.
language: English
title: Plow the Dirt but Watch the Sky: True Tales of Manure, Media, Militaries, and More
publisher: Cedric D. Fisher & Company Publishers