Slow Death by Rubber Duck by Rick Smith

Slow Death by Rubber Duck by Rick Smith

Funny, thought-provoking, and incredibly disturbing, Slow Death by Rubber Duck reveals that just the living of daily life creates a chemical soup inside each of us.

Pollution is no longer just about belching smokestacks and ugly sewer pipes - now, it's personal.

The most dangerous pollution has always come from commonplace items in our homes and workplaces. Smith and Lourie ingested and inhaled a host of things that surround all of us all the time. This book exposes the extent to which we are poisoned every day of our lives. For this book, over the period of a week - the kind of week that would be familiar to most people - the authors use their own bodies as the reference point and tell the story of pollution in our modern world, the miscreant corporate giants who manufacture the toxins, the weak-kneed government officials who let it happen, and the effects on people and families across the globe. Parents and concerned citizens will have to read this book.

Key concerns raised in Slow Death by Rubber Duck
- Flame-retardant chemicals from electronics and household dust polluting our blood.
- Toxins in our urine caused by leaching from plastics and run-of-the-mill shampoos, toothpastes and deodorant.
- Mercury in our blood from eating tuna.
- The chemicals that build up in our body when carpets and upholstery off-gas.

Ultimately hopeful, the book empowers readers with some simple ideas for protecting themselves and their families, and changing things for the better.

From the Hardcover edition.

Rick Smith grew up on the lower East Side of NYC before the family moved to Bucks County, Pa. There was also a year or so in Paris. The writing began in high school, poems inspired by William Blake and Carl Sandburg. His English teacher at Solebury School was Michael Casey who would include Yeats, William Burroughs and rock writers Leiber and Stoller in the same lesson plan. Smith went on to study with Anthony Hecht at Bard College where Hart Crane's The Bridge made a big impact. At the same time, music began to take an important role. With no formal training (one lesson from Chevy Chase, one from James Cotton), Smith learned blues harmonica and went to work on the streets of Greenwich Village, playing for tips or meals, rubbing shoulders with youngsters like Cass Elliott, Bob Dylan, Richie Havens, Steve Stills and the guys in The Lovin' Spoonful. Dylan actually had to borrow Smith's harmonica for an impromptu set at Bard one night. He delivered a car to California in 1965 and founded The City Lights late that year. He starved on the Sunset strip, selling candy door to door by day, playing for a piece of the door or for free at clubs like the Sea Witch, The Galaxy, Bido Lito's and The Whiskey. The band actually opened for Smokey Robinson and The Miracles at the Cheetah in Venice Beach, in 1967. In the mid 1970's, Smith joined Dan Ilves to co-edit the literary journal Stonecloud. His interview with Tom Waits in issue #7 made it a sought after collector's item. In 1976, he played on the soundtrack of the Oscar nominated film, Days of Heaven. In 1981, he and collaborator John Lyon wrote and recorded Hand To Mouth, a well-reviewed LP of originals which got substantial air-play. He went on to write and record with Mindless, Go Figure, The Hangan Brothers and The Mescal Sheiks. Smith continues to perform, write and record with The Sheiks and with Music Formula; new releases from both bands are in the works. Poems have appeared widely in journals like New Letters, The Wormwood Review, South Bay Magazine, The Lummox Journal, Rattle and Spillway... A string of day jobs evolved, unpredictably, to a late career as a clinical psychologist. He spent several years on the internationally acclaimed neurological service at Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center. He is now in private practice in Rancho Cucamonga, Ca. where he lives with his wife and son.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781582435671
ISBN 10	1582435677
Title	Slow Death by Rubber Duck
Author	Rick Smith
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Counterpoint
Year published	2010-01-05
Number of pages	336
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.