Sixth Boyhood

This lightly fictionalized memoir is a work in progress. The title refers to the book Five Boyhoods, edited by Martin Levin, in which five famous men describe their childhoods in each of the first five decades of the twentieth century. Playwright/actor Howard Lindsay, co-author of the book The Sound of Music, wrote about the aughts; Harry Golden, author of Only in America and For 2¢ Plain, wrote about the teens; Walt Kelly, creator of Pogo, took the twenties; William K. Zinsser, author of On Writing Well, had the thirties; and author John Updike, of the Rabbit novels, took the forties.

It’s a fun book.

Since my boyhood was mostly during the fifties it’s a sixth boyhood.

The chapters, so far, are:

  1. I Get Begat
  2. Navy Days
  3. O Pioneers!
  4. No, No Nanette!
  5. Nomads
  6. That’s Odd
  7. Lockout!
  8. God’s House
  9. I Enter the System
  10. Life in the Hood
  11. Into Every Life

A few other chapters have been written, but not yet assigned a number since there will be intervening chapters. In their proper sequence they are:

  1. Television? Meh.
  2. Uncle Hen to the Rescue
  3. Cultcha Shock