The moving story of an Irish immigrant's life, from a poverty-stricken
childhood in Ireland to becoming a captain of industry, After the
Roof Caved In is a powerful, poignant look at how hard work and
education enabled one young man to change his life and circumstances
completely.
Today, Michael J. Dowling is president and CEO of Northwell Health, New
York state's largest healthcare provider and private employer, with over
68,000 employees and over 700 facilities. But he grew up in deep poverty
in the village of Knockaderry in rural Ireland, in a small home without
running water or a stable roof, in a family with little hope for
improvement and a place with little opportunity--and he overcame it all
to become wildly successful.
After the Roof Caved In is Dowling's rags-to-riches story of his life
and journey from his destitute youth to his realization of the power of
education and his eventual departure from his home to attend university
in Cork, and onward through his life as he gradually improved himself
and his circumstances. Full of memories both fond and painful, this
powerful memoir examines the family dynamics of his childhood--including
the lives of his deaf mother and arthritic father--as well as the social
systems of the time, the politics and concerns of the day, and the way a
variety of disparate events came together to help Dowling change his
life completely. Most importantly, it chronicles his lifelong effort to
rise above the circumstances into which he was born and to create the
sort of life he dreamed possible.
For anyone interested in the stories of immigrants, the experiences of
the Irish in the mid-20th century, or the value of hard work and
education in changing one's life, After the Roof Caved In is an
essential read, and a heartfelt, deeply moving meditation on an
extraordinary life.
