Robert Bak, 4/29/2019

Current occupation: Agent/Manager for BAK Editions.
Former occupation: DynaTheater & Planetarium Manager for the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.
Contact Information: Robert has published stories and essays.  He has been involved with the entertainment business for many years.  First starting as a stage manager Off-Off Broadway in NYC, and then working in Los Angeles and Albuquerque.  He has been a director and producer of plays with national award-winning playwright William Derringer.  In addition to his involvement in theater, Robert has written a number of short stories, essays, and plays.  Door Is A Jar magazine will be publishing his essay, “Robin’s Tea Leafs” in their Issue #10 Spring 2019 issue.  SERIAL Magazine thought that Robert’s story, “One Wicked Ride” was a real “slice of life.”  Fiction Southeast selected his story “I Became A Writer” a finalist for their publication.  Work Literary Magazine Issue 8.38 published Robert’s story, “Move To Make Move.”   Diverse Voices Quarterly published Robert’s “Why Is There A Queue?” story in their Volume 8 – Issue 30.  Robert’s short story, “The Magic Room” was a finalist with Fiction Week Literary Review.  Work Literary Magazine issue 7.9 published his short story “The Flying Vase” in their 2015 magazine.  Agave Magazine (Volume 2 – Issue 4) published his short story, “The Monthly Bill Is What” in their fall issue.  Work Magazine at WordPress.com published his story, “Dark All Over.”  He would like to thank William for the training and insight of what the writing process is. 

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Nimble Fingers
A short essay
The year is 1944, and the world has been at war for years.  In America, the war effort has been growing bigger and bigger.  Everyone is doing their best to support all of the soldiers and sailors by building as many planes, ships, and other needed military equipment.  There has been a large influx of women into the labor force, as the men had gone off to war.  They will be called “Rosie the Riveters” for all of their hard work and dedication to the national war effort.
Sadie had been living in Peterborough, Ontario for some years after her family had moved from Portage-la-Prairie.  She had been working at The Western Clock Company, a local electronic industry as well.  Her work there consisted of an assembly, with many small parts requiring a good degree of skill.  She was living with her parents, John, and Robin, helping with the monthly bills and supporting them.  Her mother’s sister Wilhelmina had moved to Paterson, New Jersey, and had been working at the Curtiss-Wright Corp for ten years, and told Sadie that there were so many jobs available with her training and expertise.
Sadie and her mother Robin decided to move to Paterson, NJ.  They took the train to Niagara Falls and on Feb 29th, 1944, crossed the border to America.  They then took another long train ride to Paterson to be with her Aunt.  Within weeks of arriving, Sadie had found a position with the Bendix Aviation Company at the local Teterboro Airport.
She had been working with electronics before and was hired to work on the Nordon Bombsight.  The piece of equipment was used by the Navy and Army Air Force to help the bombardier deliver the bombs to a very high level of accuracy.  The bombsight was a very complicated electronic device.  You had to have complete control as you were assembling the many intricate parts.  But Sadie had very nimble fingers and was within a short period an expert in making the unit.
Sadie would take the trolley from downtown Paterson to the airport and would join the many other workers, numerous of them women, making these important parts of the war effort.  The days were long and hard for these workers, but they knew it was making a difference in the war effort. 
These women may not have been wearing a uniform, but their efforts brought a major contribution to the Allied war machine.  Sadie was very pleased with her work and assemble the expertise that she had acquired.  She and her fellow workers were a much-needed supplement to ending the war.
After the war ended she meet a returning sailor who had served in the Pacific and within a year they had married and started their family.  Both Sadie and her husband had served in one way or other in supporting America and the final ending of the war.  Sadie was very proud of her handiwork, and her contribution that she and so many other women had made.

 

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