For years, Hell Gate has relied on Janet Fash, New York City's first female chief lifeguard, for insight into how New York's lifeguard system has become so broken, and how her own union stood in the way of safety. This summer, Fash turned the spotlight on herself, with her new memoir "LIFEGUARD: A Love Story," co-written by Clio Chang. It's an absolute blast.
In "LIFEGUARD," Fash recounts her wild early days in the Rockaways, where she paired training, exercise, and her relentless focus on safety with raucous parties with other lifeguards, some of whom drank on the job and did cocaine in the musty lifeguard shacks that used to line the old wooden Rockaway boardwalk, before all of it was washed away by Sandy. They worked hard…and played hard, having pull-up contests at keggers, and rescuing swimmers while nursing throbbing hangovers.
For the first half of Fash's breezy memoir (which, of course, makes for perfect beach reading), Fash and Chang regale us with tales of heroic saves, a bygone beach, and a lot of nights at Connolly's (where the party is still raging). The second half of the book details Fash's decades-long battle to overcome the corrupt union leadership that, by her account, cares more about making sure it has total control of the beach than actually helping New Yorkers stay alive. Fash, a thorn in their side, never gives up trying to put lifeguards at the front and center of her union, an effort that has just started to bear some fruit. Longtime lifeguard union president Peter Stein, the subject of an infamous New York Magazine profile, finally called it quits last year.
Though she's longer patrolling the beaches, Fash hasn't ventured far. She's spending this summer back in the Rockaways, hanging out with her old lifeguards, watching the beach, and, as a food-lover, enjoying the cornucopia of delectables that now line the Rockaways. Let's just say there's a strong chance you'll see her at Hell Gate's beach party this weekend at Rippers.
Hell Gate called up with Fash earlier this week to talk about her new book, growing up as a lifeguard, and what's changed and hasn't changed in the Rockaways over the last 40 years.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.