Upward Downward Mobility: A Work Memoir [Paperback]

In a candid, informal style, writer Tom OConnell traces his work life from his early days in the 1930s and 1940s as an orphan in a Catholic Charities group home upward to top leadership roles in Massachusetts. He recalls challenging careers as CEO, educator, writer, columnist, host of public affairs show Its Your Life on Bostons Channel 25. People known nationally and locally emerge in this book: Entertainer Victor Borge, Gov. John Volpe, Gov. Mike Dukakis, TV Newsman Dick Flavin, Boston Globe Cartoonist Paul Szep, Gov. Frank Sargent, Mayor Kevin White, City Councilor Dapper ONeil. The memoir takes the reader on a roller coaster ride of job searches and major achievements as he moves upward from Grannys house next to the railroad tracks to appointment to the Governors Highway Safety Committee, CEO of Massachusetts Safety Council, inclusion in Whos Who in the East, and selection in Cape Cod Lifes 25th Anniversary Issue as one of the top 100 influential people on Cape Cod. From heights of upward mobility and success, OConnell also reveals periods when he plummeted from those heights into times of downward mobility when faced with divorce, illness, bankruptcy and other challenges. Tom re-creates the Anything is Possible myth of American culture after World War II. W.A. Cole, Book Reviewer Its the lone wolf story of a soul who will not sacrifice his values. Dr. Finbarr Corr, Author, Therapist, Professor