About the Book
COMING OF AGE IN 1950S RURAL WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
A BOOK that will Surely MELT the HEARTS of SENIOR LOVED ONES. If YOU or another family member GREW UP in the 1950s or 60s, this book will bring back feelings of love and a time gone by. The book follows the author's life as a young boy growing into manhood in a small town in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania. Anyone, anywhere, who came of age during this time, will quickly identify with their life and experiences, WHILE ENJOYING A PLEASANT TRAVEL BACK IN TIME.
An EXCERPT from the BOOK. "My cycle of life began January 12, 1945, seven months before the end of WWII, in a small town of some 800 souls, isolated in the hills of northwestern Pennsylvania where generations of my father's family had lived and died. The area offered few outside distractions, so kids relied heavily on their imaginations and the natural resources that surrounded them. The swimming holes along Richey Run Creek, the Indian cave below the town cemetery, and long hikes along the railroad tracks that followed alongside the majestic Allegheny River, offered plenty of adventure and diversion.
Work was plentiful, the townspeople were friendly, and life seemed simple. It was a good place to grow up - safe and secure. You could go on vacation for a week or two and you never had to lock your doors - we never did. In fact, for a long time, I don't think we even had a key to the front or back door of our rented home.
The downtown was small, but self-contained and, for the most part, self-sufficient. Virtually any product or service could be purchased there, and it seemed like everything came in twos. We had two grocery stores, two banks, two gas stations, two restaurants, two country dentists, two law firms, two hardware stores, two country doctors, two barbershops, two drugstores, two machine shops, two funeral parlors, two jewelry stores, two shoe repair stores, and two bars. Pretty much everything was available in the downtown retail area except hospital care. For this service, you had to travel twenty-four miles over a narrow, hilly winding road to Oil City.
There were, of course, exceptions to the "rule of 2s." We had five churches: The Presbyterian, German Reformed, Methodist, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic churches. We had four automobile dealerships: Chevrolet, Ford, Pontiac, and Nash Rambler and every fall the car companies introduced their new models, which generally featured a completely new body style. It was part of the culture of the time to stroll down to the dealerships to view the new models. The car dealers always served coffee to the adults and cookies and pop to the kids. The new models became the talk of the town.
In retrospect, growing up in Emlenton was idyllic... Summers were hot and green. The fall brought brilliant, colored foliage. Winters were harsh, with freezing cold and deep snow. The spring brought a flooding river and fresh life to the hillsides. During the cold winters, the river almost always completely froze-over and every spring the river reached some level of flood stage.
This book is about the time, the place, the people, and the events that formed, coming of age in the 1950s."
