As know-it-all Cliff Clavin, John Ratzenberger never ventured far beyond his “Cheers” barstool. But in the last three years, as host of the Travel Channel’s “John Ratzenberger’s Made in America,” he has rarely been home. Traveling through the country visiting factories and workshops in small towns and big cities where Americans still make the things we use and the things that make the things we use, he has met the people and seen the sites that have helped define our uniqueness. Now, just in time for the holiday that celebrates the discovery of this country, comes the book which shares Ratzenberger’s rediscovery of this amazing America.

We’ve Got It Made In America (Center Street, Hachette Books USA; October, 2006) is a collection of essays and remembrances celebrating the beloved traditions, endangered values and cherished ways of living still alive and thriving in many parts of this country, but often ignored by national media and sometimes hidden under a layer of fashionable self-loathing. He reminds us that the life philosophy he and so many of us follow – wake up in the morning, put your hand to something useful and take care of yourself and your family – is direct, simple and practical and it is the essence of how we Americans have lived and prospered for over two centuries.

Introducing readers to what’s to the book, Ratzenberger reminds us that the people of this country, whether they were here when Columbus got here or just arrived in the 20th century, are the smartest and most ingenious of populations, able to survive and thrive in the best and worst of times. In story after story, he makes the point with heart and wisdom, pulling the philosophy lessons from seemingly unrelated subjects including:
• a remembrance of the greatness of neighborhoods and the moms who “mommed” their own kids and, when necessary, the neighbors’ kids
• a tribute to Winston Churchill and how he matters today
• an ode to blue jeans.

Ratzenberger writes from the perspective of a man with a successful Hollywood career working in sophisticated cosmopolitan circles, and who also spends months every year working from a motor home and traveling the heartland. It is a unique vantage point from which he is able both to appreciate the soul of this country and to see that many people may be forgetting.

In his intelligent, entertaining and imaginative musings, he reminds readers not to take this history and this treasure for granted, never lose sight of the fact that we do indeed have it made in America.

Joel Engel is a journalist for the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times and a bestselling author.

We’ve Got It Made In America
Center Street/Hachette Book Group USA
Publication date: October 11, 2006