When I Was A Boy

by Michael D. Langan

When our children were small, I used to sit on their beds each night and tell them stories of my childhood. I tried to put a moral in each little tale, to demonstrate how their father was rewarded for his good deeds - real or imagined. That, at least, was the plan. Our children were avid listeners, alternately giggling or holding their breath while I described how I was made to crouch under the teacher's desk, or how I nearly lost my life in a Pennsylvania coal mine. I told them about President Roosevelt coming to our town and my mother driving an ambulance during WWII. I wrote about serving as an altar boy, knitting a scarf for our butcher and seeing a washed-up body on the beach. Mostly, I wrote of the loneliness in a family torn by war and in need of love. This volume is the result.

152 pages, Hardcover

First published February 27, 2001

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a resident of Lackawanna NY, I must say that this is a wonderful book for those who have local ties to the region. Langan produces a vibrant memoir that enables readers to empathize with the experiences and sentimentalities of his childhood. The detail-oriented stories about his family during, and immediately after, WWII exhibit customs and lifestyles of the past that are foreign to an ever increasing segment of the population. Consequently, this book is not only valuable for its beautiful display of emotion, but for its contribution to 20th century history.