{"title":"R J Nelson","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"dirty-waters-book-r-j-nelson-9780226334493","title":"Dirty Waters","description":"In 1987, the city of Chicago hired a former radical college chaplain to clean up rampant corruption on the waterfront. R. J. Nelson thought he was used to the darker side of the law he had been followed by federal agents and wiretapped due to his antiwar stances in the sixties but nothing could prepare him for the wretched bog that constituted the world of a Harbor Boss. Director of Harbors and Marine Services was a position so mired in corruption that its previous four directors ended up in federal prison. Nelson inherited angry constituents, prying journalists, shell-shocked employees, and a tobacco-stained office still bearing a busted door that had been smashed in by the FBI. Undeterred, Nelson made it his personal mission to become a \"pneumacrat,\" a public servant who, for the common good, always follows the spirit if not always the letter of the law.Dirty Waters is a wry, no-holds-barred memoir of Nelson's time controlling some of the city's most beautiful spots while facing some of its ugliest traditions. A guide like no other, Nelson takes us through Chicago's beloved \"blue spaces\" and deep into the city's political morass. He reveals the different moralities underlining three mayoral administrations, from Harold Washington to Richard M. Daley, and navigates us through the gritty mechanisms of the Chicago machine. He also deciphers the sometimes insular world of boaters and their fraught relationship with their land-based neighbors. Ultimately, Dirty Waters is a tale of morality, of what it takes to be a force for good in the world and what struggles come from trying to stay ethically afloat in a sea of corruption.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50431493898513,"sku":"CIN022633449XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51415581786385,"sku":"CIN022633449XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/022633449X.jpg?v=1751195654"},{"product_id":"dirty-waters-book-r-j-nelson-9780226826929","title":"Dirty Waters","description":"A wry, no-holds-barred memoir of Nelson’s time controlling some of Chicago's most beautiful spots while facing some of its ugliest traditions.   In 1987, the city of Chicago hired a former radical college chaplain to clean up rampant corruption on the waterfront. R. J. Nelson thought he was used to the darker side of the law—he had been followed by federal agents and wiretapped due to his antiwar stances in the sixties—but nothing could prepare him for the wretched bog that constituted the world of a Harbor Boss. Dirty Waters is the wry, no-holds-barred memoir of Nelson’s time controlling some of the city’s most beautiful spots while facing some of its ugliest traditions. Nelson takes us through Chicago's beloved “blue spaces” and deep into the city’s political morass, revealing the different moralities underlining three mayoral administrations and navigating the gritty mechanisms of the city’s political machine. Ultimately, Dirty Waters is a tale of morality, of what it takes to be a force for good in the world and what struggles come from trying to stay ethically afloat in a sea of corruption.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51000325275921,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51000328159505,"sku":"NIN9780226826929","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226826929.jpg?v=1751133343"},{"product_id":"varnished-truth-book-r-j-nelson-9781958943908","title":"Varnished Truth","description":"\"VARNISHED TRUTH\" is a memoir of R.J. Nelson's eleven years (1994-2005) as CEO of the Hammond, Indiana Port Authority.  Fired without cause from the Chicago Park District as Superintendent of Special Services (all on the lakefront) when Richard M. Daley took office as mayor, he was hired by the HPA, whose main business was a 1300 slip marina about to go bankrupt. He was the fourth CEO in its first three years, all three being fired for mismanagement.  The arrival of casino gambling on HPA property changed the HPA and industrial city of Hammond forever.  The book contains unusual stories of waterfront deaths and suicides and other tales filled with waterfront characters, one of whom was a yacht captain and master varnisher, who believed and regularly argued, \"There is no such thing as the unvarnished truth.\"  What is a \"Pneumacrat?\"  He or she is a public servant often in \"good trouble,\" as the legendary congressman and civil rights activist, John R. Lewis, described his public life.  Though misunderstood and often called \"loose cannons,\" Pneumacrats always follow the spirit of the law instead of the letter, often breaking rules and getting into trouble.  Their only goal is the common good, frequently using \"moral bribery\"---extracting favors that result in greater good not individual gain.  A Pneumacrat never allows the truth to be in harm's way.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52758242099473,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52758242558225,"sku":"NIN9781958943908","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781958943908.jpg?v=1763581165"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-r-j-nelson.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}