The End of the Line

by Mark Jespersen

We were quite privileged as kids in the 1950s, though I didn’t realize it until much later. Wilmette was created to appeal to a slice of the population who wanted to live in a bucolic suburb not too far from the city, where most of them worked. For much of its history, it was also a dry village. It was safe, the schools were good, and almost everyone was well-off. We spent our days going down to the Wilmette beach, checking out the boats tied up in the harbor, or hanging out by the CTA train station at Fourth and Linden, a block from our house. When I was about eight, I would ride those trains, alone, for 25 cents, to and from Evanston, where I often went for dental appointments to fix my buck teeth. Coming home, after passing Isabella Street, the engineer would call out, “Last stop, Wilmette, end of the line.”

But for me, Wilmette was never the end of the line. It was only the beginning.

202 pages, Paperback

Published May 6, 2026

Reviews

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE END OF THE LINE is a charming, engaging memoir that paints a vivid picture of growing up in mid-century middle America. Mark Jespersen has a memory for all the right details and tells the story not just of a remarkable, loving, quirky family but of a boy finding his own way in the world through exploration, careful observation, and many amusing missteps. I truly enjoyed reading this warm and witty coming-of-age tale.

[Pat Albu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four years younger than Mark Jespersen, I grew up only a mile or two away from where he did. So this story really resonated with me. Hearing the names of streets, schools, stores and theaters that I grew up with was bittersweet. It sounds to me like he grew up in a wonderful, loving family, surrounded by a lot of fun and a lot of laughter. I will pass this book onto my siblings so they can enjoy it too.

[Irwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I turned 80 this year but went to grammar school and New Trier High School decades ago with Mark Jesperson, the author of this cozy memoir about growing up in Wilmette, Illinois. Wilmette is a pleasant enough suburb to the north of Chicago along the shores of Lake Michigan, and you wouldn't think much of interest happened there. But this book captures the charm of the place and its small-town lifestyle with perfect little vignettes about the life of young kids in the Midwest in the 1950s and 1960s. During those postwar years, America and its small-town culture, its music and its lifestyle changed so fast. Curl up with this work and spend some quality time with a great story teller.