Brian Brennan had reached the pinnacle of his career as a newspaper journalist when a tense confrontation with management forced him and his editorial colleagues to walk a picket line for eight months.

Before that, during his 25 years at the Calgary Herald, the Irish-born former musician and radio news announcer had evolved into an award-winning columnist and features writer. Then this totally avoidable strike put his career in jeopardy.

Would there be any going back for him? Told here for the first time, with passion, candour and insightful commentary, is Brennan's gripping story of that long-drawn-out labour dispute and the events that preceded and followed it.

The strike clearly was a traumatic event in Brennan's multi-faceted career. But there were other, less stressful, more rewarding moments. If you enjoyed reading Russell Baker, Walter Cronkite, Pierre Berton and other journalists who wrote about the lows and highs of their media careers, you'll love Brennan's engaging autobiographical account of what it was like to leave music and radio behind for a job at a Canadian regional newspaper that aspired to greatness before its owners sacrificed journalism at the altar of profit.

Add this memoir to your library today and discover why one Canadian newspaper - like its counterparts elsewhere - now exists as a faint shadow of what it used to be between the 1970s and the beginning of the 21st century.