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The Promise of the Class of '64
It was late August 1963; Martin Luther King had just delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech and the vast majority of the approximately 3.5 million Americans born in 1946 were starting their senior year in high school.
Over the next nine months the Class of ’64, the first high school graduating class of American “Baby Boomers” would experience one of the most consequential periods in American history.
The “I Have a Dream” speech; almost daily shifts of the American government’s view of the situation in South Vietnam; the assassination of President Kennedy; the first American appearance of the Beatles; the daily legislative battles that led to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Bill were just some of the happenings during the Class of ’64’s senior year.
The Promise of the Class of ’64 is a novel that combines actual New York Times newspaper accounts with a fictional “coming of age” tale of a group of New England suburban high school students during a transformative period in their lives and in American history.
If you were born in 1946; if you attended high school in the 1960s; if you enjoy reading American history, this is a book for you.
Over the next nine months the Class of ’64, the first high school graduating class of American “Baby Boomers” would experience one of the most consequential periods in American history.
The “I Have a Dream” speech; almost daily shifts of the American government’s view of the situation in South Vietnam; the assassination of President Kennedy; the first American appearance of the Beatles; the daily legislative battles that led to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Bill were just some of the happenings during the Class of ’64’s senior year.
The Promise of the Class of ’64 is a novel that combines actual New York Times newspaper accounts with a fictional “coming of age” tale of a group of New England suburban high school students during a transformative period in their lives and in American history.
If you were born in 1946; if you attended high school in the 1960s; if you enjoy reading American history, this is a book for you.
279 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 6, 2026
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August 2, 2026
John Gillooly was a sports reporter for The Providence Journal and covered high school sports for many years. He has written two non-fiction books on Rhode Island sports and this is is first work of fiction. Very well done John as you did a fine job with combining news briefs with events occurring during the 63-64 academic year. Asa 1964 grad myself, I could relate to many of the specific events and many times I had to pause and reflect on where and what I was doing at the time. The news briefs are all real, while the doings of the high school students are not. Well done and I hope you write more fiction in the future.
Displaying 1 of 1 review