Bill Cherry's Galveston Memories [Paperback]

Bill Cherry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 18, 2000

Galveston: Beyond the sunny beaches lies a real place of history and humanty. Spanish Conquistadors, Jean Lafitte and buried treasure; shipping, cotton, merchandising, manufacturing, culture, opera, publishing; great fortunes made and lost and made again. The Island faced the full force of war, fire, flood and hurricanes, and always the memory of the Great Storm of 1900. Memorable characters and celebrities flourished here and Bill Cherry relates their tales and also the tales of the ordinary and special people who loved and struggled and sometimes succeed in those extraordinary times.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bill Cherry born in Galveston and raised in the 40's and 50's, a fabled time of a vibrant cosmopolitan seaport open to gambling, prostitution, and wise guys. Bill graduated from North Texas State University and for 35 years was a real-estate broker on the Island all the while he pursued his dream to be a jazz pianist and author. His weekly column in the Galveston County Daily News was the source of these stories.

Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: Vanjus Press (November 18, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966643844
• ISBN-13: 978-0966643848
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #175,075 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An islander who can tell a story, January 7, 2001

By 

Campbell Rhea "wisewoman" (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bill Cherry's Galveston Memories (Paperback)

I like to go to the Mosquito Cafe in Galveston to hear Bill Cherry tell stories. The coffee and scones are great. But the main attraction is the pure pleasure of hearing Bill tell stories about a quirky island off the Texas Coast that has been home to famous pirates, gamblers, bamboozlers and other assorted characters. The stories in this book originally were published in The Galveston County Daily News. As the editor, I can tell you they passed the muster of tough critics. These are the kind of stories islanders like to read about themselves. The stories Bill tells so well at the cafe over coffee are here in this book. It's not exactly the same as a trip to the cafe, but it's mighty close.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Only in America, January 5, 2001

By 

LEON BREEDEN (DENTON, TEXAS USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bill Cherry's Galveston Memories (Paperback)

Only in America can one person grow up in a city, remember the details almost to the letter, and then WRITE about his friends, fellow citizens, interesting characters, etc. as Bill Cherry has done. He brings the past, and in some cases the present, to life in Galveston. Anyone who finds people of all kinds interesting will find this book INTERESTING! I am Professor Emeritus of Music, University of North Texas and have followed Bill's career rather closely through the years!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Smashing Book of Tales about Fabled Galveston Island, January 5, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Bill Cherry's Galveston Memories (Paperback)

I've never read a book quite like this, and I doubt you have either. It's a collection of sixty essays, catagorized by subject: Love, Humor, Nostalgia, History, Hurricanes, Religion, Characters and Memories. And these tales could have as easily been written by Daymon Runyon as they were by this talented story teller, Bill Cherry.

Consider some of the titles: "Joe Pajucie, His Red Cadillac and the Four Cheap-Looking Women;" "At Miss Dorothy's: Arthur and Summer Saw the Midnight Sun;" "Baby Doll Pajamas, Spoolies and Tabu Marked Rites of Passage;" Smooching Can Make a Boy and Girl Say Things They Don't Really Mean;" and "Rose, Curly, the Priest and the Doctor above the Dime Store.

And then there's one simply titled "Homer Sectuals." It's about a circa 1954 mayor inviting some teenage boys, who one night were sitting at a drugstore soda fountain, to go with him for a raid he was staging at a public men's room on the beach. Since they had never heard the term "homosexuals" before, the boys thought Homer Sectuals was a dangerous wanted criminal, so they took the mayor up on his offer. This cops and robbers story is a scream because the homophobic mayor gets his just due.

If you've lived or visited Galveston, you may have a 10% advantage on those of us who haven't, but this book is a wonderful experience for readers everywhere, and what makes it exceptional is that these stories are totally non-fiction!