Cherry Delight: A Family Memoir

by Robert Cherry

On New Year’s Eve, in 1929, as the Great Depression and Prohibition cast a shadow over America, a spirited young Philadelphian kissed his Cinderella at midnight. Joe Cherry was 20. Mary Mitnick, the belle of South Philadelphia, was 17. That kiss between the author’s parents ignited a remarkable love story, the subject of Cherry Delight.

Starting married life with little but grit and determination, Joe and Mary survived the Great Depression and World War II. In post-war America, they thrived: Joe built successful food businesses—among them the business that created the iconic Slim Jim; Mary filled the family with good food (Jewish and American) and good values. Generous and big hearted, they shared their success and love, enriching many lives around them—none more than the author’s.

Robert Cherry, the acclaimed biographer of Wilt Chamberlain, spent three years writing his own parents’ inspiring story, gathering material from government and synagogue archives in the Ukraine, his father’s diaries, family letters, and interviews with friends and relatives. (And even if, unlike Wilt, the author’s parents never led the NBA in rebounding or scoring, they are well worth reading about and spending time with.)

However, this book is more than a memoir. It is a tribute to the Greatest Generation, a chronicle of courage, devotion and mettle. Yet the story also includes the dark days that inevitably intrude on even the sunniest of lives. Beginning in the Russian Empire and unfolding in Philadelphia, this narrative spans the late nineteenth century to the first decade of the twenty-first. The story of one family, in truth it is a story that will resonate with anyone whose ancestors built a life in America. Or who just enjoys a well-told tale. Come meet Joe and his beloved Mary—a Cherry Delight.

217 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

I was born and bred in Philadelphia, although I have been fortunate enough to have traveled the world. My late sister imbued me with a love of good writing (and of course good reads). After two years teaching English in the African bush, I returned to America, where I entered journalism, eventually working as a reporter or editor at four newspapers, including the Arizona Republic, and my freelance work has appeared in The New York Times and The Jerusalem Post, among other publications. Both of my books are about Philadelphians--the great basketball player, Wilt Chamberlain; and my parents, Joe and Mary Cherry. Granted that, unlike Wilt, neither of my parents ever led the NBA in rebounding and scoring; nevertheless, they are still worth getting to know and reading about--which people can do through Cherry Delight: A Family Memoir.