Holding On: Dreamers, Visionaries, Eccentrics, and Other American Heroes

by Dave Isay

Based on the award-winning National Public Radio series, a photographic tribute celebrates some of America's greatest characters, from a Woolworth's lunch-counter waitress to a coon-dog graveyard caretaker.

Genres: Nonfiction, Photography, Biography, Anthologies, History, Essays

216 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[lia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dave Isay is the founder of StoryCorps, and Harvey Wang a noted photographer--together they traveled the country interviewing and photographing unique, weird, lovely people who had a story to tell. From Geneva Tisdale, a cook at the Woolworths that was made famous for integration during the sixties (who ate at the counter ONCE since she started working there in 1951)to Roberta Blackgoat, spearhead of the fight to save Big Mountain for the Navajo - to the president of the Brooklyn Elite Checker Club - to Dr Hepcat, the nations leading expert on 'jive talk' and author in 1953 of The Jive Of Dr. Hepcat a jive dictionary and guide to all hepster phrases..I cried more than once reading these stories that brought to the fore a group of people mostly unseen, and since this book was published in 1996, probably dead and gone.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book years ago after hearing an interview with David Isay on NPR and I flip through it every few years. A collection of short stories about people who have something in their lives that they maintain at all costs, retold by a compassionate chronicler. Mr. Isay calls them "dreamers, visionaries, eccentrics and other American heros". He's right. My very favorite is the last in the book and is about Virginia Belle Brewer from Canton, Texas and her collection of bells. I get little shivers every time I read it.

[Bill Stepien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun reading when you only have sporadic time to sit down. Short conversations with a diverse group of people, coupled with interesting photos. I found some of the people interesting, some not - but all of them were devoted to something that has never been relevant or whose relevance is fading into history. Reading this made me think about if I have ever felt as dedicated to any place or activity as any of these people. I haven't come up with anything yet...

[christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book from Lia's list and had no idea what it was until it came at the library.

It is really excellent and fascinating all the way through.
I read it cover to cover, (some profiles twice) which I highly recommend, as certain people turn out more interesting than a glance could discern.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of these stories were interesting, amazing really, about the passion people have for the things they love, as though their passion gives them a reason for being—their answer to "Why are we here?" Of all of the stories, I loved the fox hunters the best!

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having read the author's other book "Listening is an act of Love" and loved it, I grabbed this one and found the stories flat. I just could not get interested in the people he wrote about in this book.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book of eccentrics. My favorite story is the dancer in Death Valley. Her story is so charming, I don't want to spoil it for you. After reading this book, you might find yourself asking if it's time to be a little more eccentric.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was published in 1996. It’s a relic, both of the times recounted by the subjects, but also of the time the book was written. Most of the interviews took place between 1990-1994, which was almost 30 years ago at this point. It was such a different time. It was a time before the internet. It was a time where many people from the Greatest Generation are the age that Boomers are now. Most of the people in this book are gone, and we can only read about their stories, or listen to interviews, we can no longer talk to them directly.

I was just a kid in the early 90s. I grew up sitting under a desk in a senior center where my grandma volunteered. My grandpa owned a gold mine and could have easily been in this book if he’d still been alive in 1990. I was familiar with people like the ones interviewed in this book, but I was too young to really ask good questions.

So this book is awesome if you wish you’d had the chance to talk to more elderly people before they passed, or if you’re interested in the culture of the united states between about 1930 and 1990.

Each interview is about two or three pages and is accompanied by a photo. Most of them were aired on All Things Considered or Morning Edition in the early 90s. There’s a man who’d been in jail since before desegregation and only knew about the outside world based on things he’d seen on television. There are many stories from before the civil rights movement. There’s the guy who shook Robert Kennedy’s hand right before he was shot. There are religious zealots. There are unusual doctors. And of course, there are people who are trying very hard to share very specific interests with the world. Each story is very folksy and charming.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually went through this in the excellent audio release from the Rounder group, which compiles many of the original reports into a fascinating audio document. As another commenter notes, perhaps the most affecting story is Ms. Belle and her bell museum, although there's much more here too. It does make me wish that there was a more extensive set of StoryCorps audio releases.

[Julee · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are my peeps. Viva the maverick!

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book for years and only recently realized that it features Johnny Tocco of Johnny Tocco's Ringside Gym in Las Vegas!! He held on for a long time...

[Melanie Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a varied collection, and all of their stories are very interesting. Excellent introduction by Henry Roth.