Executive Overview
In the bustling, high-stakes landscape of post-World War II America, devastation could arrive as quickly as a lightning strike, reducing a lifetime of accumulation to ash in a matter of minutes. Yet, as Joseph Hamaker observes in his poignant short story “Starting Over”—featured in The Missouri Review’s online-only biweekly prose series, BLAST—the inverse is far more complex. While loss is instantaneous, the grueling process of starting over is long, winding, and inextricably anchored in the heavy architecture of the past.
Set against the backdrop of Stick Willa, a fictionalized yet deeply authentic American hamlet, the narrative traces the formative days of ten-year-old Jimmy. Through his eyes, we witness the kaleidoscopic life of his father—a man of infinite trades, an off-duty fireman, a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, and a pillar of community resilience. When a catastrophic house fire upends a local family’s life, young Jimmy receives his first practical lesson in human empathy and endurance. Months later, the sudden, silent death of his father from a heart attack forces Jimmy and his mother to confront their own devastating chapter of rebuilding.
This review explores the intricate layers of Hamaker’s narrative, examining the intersections of post-war industriousness, racial solidarity in a segregated era, the psychological weight of sudden bereavement, and the delicate art of recovery. Beyond his literary pursuits, the author—Dr. Joseph Hamaker, a distinguished aerospace cost analyst and former NASA leader—brings a structural precision to his fiction, treating human grief and resilience with the same analytical clarity he once applied to complex space flight models.
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Detailed Chronology
The Man of Many Hats: Life in Post-War Stick Willa
The narrative opens in the sunlit bays of the Stick Willa fire hall, where ten-year-old Jimmy waits at the base of the brass sliding pole for his father. In the economic boom years immediately following the Second World War, vitality was the currency of survival and progress. Jimmy’s father embodies this relentless industriousness, working a twenty-four-hours-on, twenty-four-hours-off shift as a fireman. During his off-hours, he transforms into a used car salesman, a mechanic, a weekend auctioneer of imported Chinese goods, an insurance peddler, and a drive-in theater operator.
A particularly striking vignette in the chronology details the father’s monthly business trips to Chicago alongside No Tail Bear, a towering African American man who saved the father’s life during the Battle of the Bulge. Refusing to submit to the Jim Crow segregation laws mandated on public transit, the father insists that No Tail Bear ride in the lounge car of the majestic Dixie Flyer passenger train rather than the segregated cars at the rear. Together, the two men smoke innumerable cigarettes, navigate the rare integrated sanctuary of Bill Yancy’s LampLighter Club in Chicago, and drive a quartet of purchased used vehicles back to Stick Willa in a grueling fourteen-hour marathon.
The Siren and the Ruin
The rhythm of this busy life is abruptly punctured by the wail of the fire alarm. For Jimmy, the alarm is an acoustic shockwave that demands physical adaptation—opening his mouth to equalize the pressure. Watching the full-time firemen effortlessly descend the pole, Jimmy follows the stairs outside to join his father, who tosses his firefighting gear into the over-burdened trunk of his 1955 Buick Roadmaster.
Following the red pumper truck to a two-story farmhouse burning on an isolated county lot, Jimmy witnesses the slow, dreamlike mechanics of rural firefighting. Despite the initial lack of visible flames, dark smoke billows ominously from the cornices. As water lines are slowly dragged from a distant hydrant, the fire breaches the downstairs windows and consumes the porch.
The aftermath of the fire presents a stark study in human psychology. The displaced family wanders through scattered salvages—a few armfuls of clothes, mismatched furniture, and cardboard boxes. The father approaches the devastated homeowners, offering simple, unvarnished comfort. When the homeowner breaks down in tears, the father sheds his heavy helmet and gathers the couple under his canvas coat. This moment of uncalculated empathy leaves an indelible impression on young Jimmy, who learns that true comfort requires physical presence and shared vulnerability rather than empty platitudes.
The Midnight Absence
The fragile security of Jimmy’s world shatters in August. While working a night shift at the fire hall, his father suffers a fatal heart attack in his sleep. Rushed to the Stick Willa hospital, he is pronounced dead at the age of forty.
The narrative transitions into the cooler, amber-lit evenings of October. Sitting outside with his mother under the crisp night sky, Jimmy studies fifth-grade astronomy—identifying constellations like the Northern Cross, Pegasus, and Pisces—while grappling with the raw, incomplete reality of grief. Mother and son share their aching loss in the dark, laying the psychological foundation for their own process of starting over.
The Return to the Fire Hall
In a masterclass of narrative closure, Jimmy cycles back to the downtown Stick Willa fire hall a few months later. Finding the bays open and the red trucks gleaming in the autumn sun, he is greeted warmly by the crew. Seeking permission from the chief, Jimmy ascends to the living quarters, touches his father’s old bed, and finally gathers the courage to slide down the iconic brass pole.
As the pneumatic doors snap shut overhead, the firemen offer praise for a clean slide. Jimmy declines a second turn, mounts his bicycle, and pedals away with the quiet realization that he has closed a chapter. That night, listening to the distant wail of a fire siren and the forlorn howling of his dog Rocky from the apple orchard, Jimmy stands as an altered yet resilient witness to life’s perpetual cycles of destruction and renewal.
Supporting Context & Metrics
To fully appreciate the cultural and historical weight of Hamaker’s short story, one must examine the socio-economic framework of the United States between 1945 and 1955.
- The Post-War Economic Boom: The era depicted in Starting Over was characterized by a massive surge in consumer spending, automotive expansion (exemplified in the story by the 1950 GMC dually and the 1955 Buick Roadmaster), and suburban development. Rural hamlets like Stick Willa experienced a unique blend of traditional agrarian life and modern industrial acceleration.
- Volunteer Firefighting Networks: In mid-century America, volunteer fire departments served as the literal and figurative glue of rural communities. According to historical municipal data from the era, over 80% of fire protection across rural and semi-urban American townships relied on volunteer or shift-rotation personnel who balanced multiple commercial trades to support their families.
- The Veteran Brotherhood: The bond between Jimmy’s father and No Tail Bear highlights a profound, cross-racial brotherhood forged in the crucible of the European Theater of Operations during World War II—specifically the Ardennes Counteroffensive (Battle of the Bulge, winter 1944–1945). While institutional segregation cast a long shadow over American society, combat veterans frequently forged egalitarian alliances that defied contemporary Jim Crow norms.
- Literary Series Metrics: The Missouri Review’s BLAST series was specifically engineered for the digital age, designed to showcase contemporary prose that exceeds standard print constraints in terms of thematic velocity, emotional resonance, and stylistic vibrancy. Joseph Hamaker’s contribution exemplifies the series’ mission to elevate short-form narrative craft.
Official Statements & Authorial Profile
While the narrative reads as an intimate, semi-autobiographical reflection of childhood memory, its author operates in a vastly different professional sphere. Dr. Joseph Hamaker is a globally recognized cost analyst and engineering manager whose career has fundamentally shaped modern space flight economics.
Professional Background of Dr. Joseph Hamaker
- Current Affiliation: Cost analyst with Galorath Federal, a premier international provider of parametric cost models and consulting services.
- Previous Tenure: Key analytical and leadership roles with The Millennium Group International, SAIC, NASA Headquarters, and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
- Academic Credentials:
- B.S. in Industrial Engineering, Tennessee Technological University
- B.A. in Economics, University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH)
- M.S. in Engineering Management, UAH
- Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering, UAH
- Key Contributions to Aerospace: Dr. Hamaker is the visionary originator of several foundational NASA cost-estimating frameworks, including the NASA Air Force Cost Model (NAFCOM), the NASA QuickCost Model, the NASA Cost Analysis Data Requirement, and the ONCE (One NASA Cost Engineering) database.
When asked about the emotional architecture of his fiction, literary critics often draw parallels between Dr. Hamaker’s scientific career and his creative writing. Just as parametric cost analysis seeks to derive order, predictability, and valuation from historical data and chaotic variables, Hamaker’s prose dissects the catastrophic variables of human grief to find the mathematical precision of emotional recovery.
Future Outlook
As The Missouri Review continues to expand the reach of its BLAST series, works like Joseph Hamaker’s “Starting Over” serve as vital touchstones for contemporary American short fiction. The story bridges a critical gap between historical fiction and universal emotional truth, reminding readers that the infrastructure of human resilience is built one small, deliberate action at a time.
For Dr. Hamaker, the transition from engineering complex space systems to crafting evocative prose demonstrates the multidimensional nature of modern storytelling. As readers continue to engage with Stick Willa, its firefighting culture, and young Jimmy’s journey from fear to acceptance, the narrative endures as a masterclass in literary economy—proving that whether rebuilding a burned-out farmhouse, recovering from a sudden loss, or charting the constellations of an autumn night, the work of starting over remains humanity’s most essential enterprise.
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