Bounding up the Steps

Join Jack Curran as he navigates through the rocky shoals of public service as a legislative staffer in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, confronting tough societal issues like abortion, education reform, poverty, racism, prison overcrowding and riots, high property taxes, raw partisanship and the influence of money, corruption and temptation, while struggling to maintain his integrity and conservative principles and striving to be the man his father, Big Joe Curran, raised him to be. Laugh with Jack, too, on some of the zany stuff he finds himself forced to deal with and cry with him as he faces the tragedies and weaknesses of the human condition. With the Capitol steps as a metaphor for his uphill journey in public life, Jack climbs that granite mountain that graces the front of Pennsylvania's majestic building. Always rough-and-tumble, fast-paced, sometimes scandalous and treacherous, this is the center of politics and public policy surrounding the Commonwealth's governance. From his turbulent and stormy childhood that culminates in his mother walking out, through his first political campaign at age sixteen, to his retirement party at the pinnacle of his influence as a senior legislative staffer, the book chronicles the intersection of Jack's personal experiences and how they so profoundly impacted on the pathway he followed and life he led. Driven, intense, sensitive, a loner challenged by self-doubt and a bad temper, Curran is the son of an alcoholic, workaholic father and overwhelmed mother. Shaped by the trauma and chaos of his large family-who he flees-Jack seeks refuge in the arms of his high-school sweetheart and loving wife, Carolyn Gianella. Robert Placid, an influential Pennsylvania lobbyist and Curran's alter ego, accompanies him on this odyssey, as they each take different routes to success. Based on a meticulously kept diary, Curran with his wit, sharp tongue, and candor pulls back the curtain on his journey within the Pennsylvania State Capitol and its legislative process, giving readers an inside view of what Jack Curran saw and experienced behind the scenes as a senior legislative staffer, lobbyist, and official for one of Pennsylvania's chief executives.

• | Author: Dave Transue
• | Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• | Publication Date: Apr 27, 2018
• | Number of Pages: 452 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 1981733728
• | ISBN-13: 9781981733729