Public Employee Press

Media Beat: Book Review
Shop steward saves hospital workers from murder charges

A record heat wave was driving everyone crazy at Philadelphia’s James Madison Hospital, and custodian and intrepid shop steward Larry Moss was juggling members’ crises as he tried to get management to repair the building’s ancient air conditioning.

When a botched abortion in the hospital kills a poor Black woman, Moss has a mystery on his hands — another great mystery by Timothy Sheard, himself a nurse, shop steward and member of the United University Professions union.

“A Race Against Death” mixes racism, sexism and murder as student doctors soon find that the fatal abortion was just one in a series that a mysterious Dr. Odom performed on low-income women of color.

In their campaign to expose Odom, the young docs of course come to Larry, who is jumping everywhere to enforce the contract, fight two brutal firings, press management over endless delays in fixing the air conditioning and trying to find time to romance the love of his life.

Everything hits the fan when the evil doctor himself is murdered and the hospital administration tries to cover up its own involvement in the crisis by casting Larry and other protesters as suspects.

While he discourages them from saying it, co-workers call Larry Moss the “mayor” of the hospital. He knows everyone and helps everyone as he uses the contract and other tools to bring justice to the workplace. The $29.95 Five Star book is available at www.gale.com/fivestar. This is the third of Sheard’s Larry Moss mysteries, which are all available in the DC 37 Education Fund Library in Room 211.

While most shop stewards do not get involved in murder mysteries, they solve tough problems at work every day. Now they can look up to a fictional role model — Super Steward Larry Moss.

— Ken Nash,
DC 37 Education Fund Librarian