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Hey Nineteen: A Memoir of Growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Against the background of a seemingly tranquil 1950s and the more volatile 1960s, Dana Alioto effortlessly
captures the rhythm and pace of growing up in suburban Milwaukee. With a middle-class background, a Catholic grade school and public high school grad, and an alum of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Mr. Alioto recounts numerous stories by interweaving his relationships with family, neighbors, friends and girls.
Beginning with an ancestral backdrop and then regaling us with accounts of his extended and immediate family, he reveals a warmth for those times that he lived more than a half-century ago. He introduces us to a myriad of colorful characters who come alive and play out in his chronicles of those treasured days in Milwaukee.
There are those beloved sports teams Alioto cheered for; the concerts and festivals he attended, and the oftentimes hilarious antics he participated in while exploring all that this city had to offer in his youth. The camaraderie exhibited with his friends and all those that touched his life is felt within these pages.
The atmosphere and cultural landscape of Milwaukee is exhibited while he narrates all that he treasured, especially during those summer days and nights. There are the Braves, Packers, Brewers, the Crusher, Summerfest, State Fair, family vacations, the city's movie palaces, teen-oriented pop radio and much more to reminiscence in.
But there is also the neighborhood, the church, education, sports, first dates, first jobs, dear friends, successes and regrets. Mr. Alioto has penned a heartfelt memoir of surprises, sharing with us a slice of his youth that no longer exists but is so fondly remembered.
captures the rhythm and pace of growing up in suburban Milwaukee. With a middle-class background, a Catholic grade school and public high school grad, and an alum of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Mr. Alioto recounts numerous stories by interweaving his relationships with family, neighbors, friends and girls.
Beginning with an ancestral backdrop and then regaling us with accounts of his extended and immediate family, he reveals a warmth for those times that he lived more than a half-century ago. He introduces us to a myriad of colorful characters who come alive and play out in his chronicles of those treasured days in Milwaukee.
There are those beloved sports teams Alioto cheered for; the concerts and festivals he attended, and the oftentimes hilarious antics he participated in while exploring all that this city had to offer in his youth. The camaraderie exhibited with his friends and all those that touched his life is felt within these pages.
The atmosphere and cultural landscape of Milwaukee is exhibited while he narrates all that he treasured, especially during those summer days and nights. There are the Braves, Packers, Brewers, the Crusher, Summerfest, State Fair, family vacations, the city's movie palaces, teen-oriented pop radio and much more to reminiscence in.
But there is also the neighborhood, the church, education, sports, first dates, first jobs, dear friends, successes and regrets. Mr. Alioto has penned a heartfelt memoir of surprises, sharing with us a slice of his youth that no longer exists but is so fondly remembered.
361 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 18, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 5, 2023
Dana's reminiscing of growing up on northwest side of Milwaukee was unbelievably detailed. Went to same high school as Dana (Milwaukee Madison) and he was school friends with my brother, Brian. (We were also in typing class together- which he now admits he took because the girl to boy ratio was like 90/10! Haha!)
Dana's ability to recall all the minutiae of growing up in a time of innocence (you'd leave home in morning & sometimes never return till suppertime) but also a time when the world was changing drastically (racial tensions, Vietnam War, women's rights, etc) was so vivid that I found myself recalling things I hadn't thought about in 50 years!
Thanks, Dana, for a step back in time! I know lots of "baby boomers" will enjoy it as much as I did. A highly recommended read. 😁
Dana's ability to recall all the minutiae of growing up in a time of innocence (you'd leave home in morning & sometimes never return till suppertime) but also a time when the world was changing drastically (racial tensions, Vietnam War, women's rights, etc) was so vivid that I found myself recalling things I hadn't thought about in 50 years!
Thanks, Dana, for a step back in time! I know lots of "baby boomers" will enjoy it as much as I did. A highly recommended read. 😁
January 21, 2024
While the book may not have universal appeal, it was great for someone like myself who was in the 1971 James Madison High School class. Dana portrays what life was like for us in the that period of time. The beauty of the story was reading about the locations and activities that all of us participated in at the time. It brought back wonderful memories and I would simply like to thank Dana for investing the time and energy to write this story which all of us from that time can relate to the events occurring then. We were all products of working-class neighborhoods and found ways to make the best of it. Thank you, Dana!
February 12, 2023
What a great book. It was like a trip back in time to my childhood in Milwaukee. I recognized the names, places, and activities - of course, the fact that the book is concentrated on the Northwest side of Milwaukee from the late 1950s t0 the 1970s does make it a specialty type book that will be of interest mostly to all the other folks that experienced the same time in the same place. Very happy that a classmate of mine chose to write this memoir.
March 16, 2023
Those were the days
You often hear it said, "I could write a book", well Dana did and it's a wonderful portrayal of that particular time in ones life. I'm 2 years older than Dana but knew so many of the individuals he wrote about that I found myself remembering things I hadn't thought of in years. Thanks for the memories Dana.
You often hear it said, "I could write a book", well Dana did and it's a wonderful portrayal of that particular time in ones life. I'm 2 years older than Dana but knew so many of the individuals he wrote about that I found myself remembering things I hadn't thought of in years. Thanks for the memories Dana.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews