Paul Hertneky is an American journalist and author best known for his 2016 book ''Rust Belt Boy: Stories of an American Childhood,'' about the

Baby boomers Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the demographic cohort preceded by the Silent Generation and followed by Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964 during the mid-20th century baby boom that ...

he grew up with in the

rust belt The Rust Belt, formerly the Steel Belt or Factory Belt, is an area of the United States that underwent substantial Deindustrialization, industrial decline in the late 20th century. The region is centered in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (Uni ...

mill town of

Ambridge, Pennsylvania Ambridge is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. Incorporated in 1905 as a company town by the American Bridge Company, Ambridge is located 16 miles (25 km) northwest of Pittsburgh, along the Ohio River. The population ...

, where he was once a steel worker. He is a member of the faculty of

Chatham University Chatham University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally founded as a women's college, it began enrolling men in undergraduate programs in 2015. It enrolls about 2,110 students, including 1,002 undergraduate students and ...

Childhood and education

Hertneky was born in Pittsburgh and reared in Ambridge, Pennsylvania in a family of Czech/Slovak/Hungarian heritage. His father worked for the

American Bridge Company The American Bridge Company is a heavy/civil construction firm that specializes in building and renovating bridges and other large, complex structures. Founded in 1900, the company is headquartered in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsb ...

, the company from which Ambridge takes its name. Hertneky graduated from Ambridge Area High School in 1973, the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

and

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont, United States. Founded as a women’s college in 1932,

. Hertneky and his wife, Robbie, settled in Hancock, New Hampshire, where they lived for almost 20 years.

Career

Hertneky worked for a

steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

during college, then took a job at a trucking company, before moving to Massachusetts to become a journalist. Hertneky has worked as a freelance writer and editor.

''Rust Belt Boy''

Hertneky is the author of the 2016 ''Rust Belt Boy: Stories of an American Childhood.''Bill Conlogue. Review of Hertneky, Paul, _ _ and Kessler, Gabriella; Portron, Jean-Loïc, _Braddock America_. H-Pennsylvania, H-Net Reviews. February, 2017. URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=47987 The ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...

'' describes the essays that comprise Rust Belt Boy as a series of 26 vignettes, that, taken as a whole, "form an homage to a lost way of life" through "incantatory writing." National Book Award finalist, Sy Montgomery calls it "An essential but overlooked portrait of America's blue collar heart" that "deserves to become a classic."

The Keene Sentinel ''The Keene Sentinel'' is an independently owned daily newspaper published in Keene, New Hampshire. It currently publishes six days a week. The ''Sentinel'' is the fifth oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States, having operat ...

called Rust Belt Boy "an unexpected journey of discovery, a journey of often bittersweet delights."

References

External links

Why 6 Million People Left the Rust Belt and 6 Million Stayed (audio)A "Rust Belt Boy" Reflects on His Changing Hometown (audio)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hertneky, Paul American male journalists Bennington College alumni University of Pittsburgh alumni Writers from Pittsburgh Journalists from Pittsburgh Year of birth missing (living people) People from Ambridge, Pennsylvania People from Hancock, New Hampshire Living people