CHINQUA WHERE? The Spirit of Rural America, 1947-1955 [Hardcover]

Fred B. McKinley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2003

It portrays the numerous humorous exploits, misadventures and shenanigans of a youth while growing up in the East Texas backwoods community of Chinquapin during 1947-1955. While it is mainly intended as humor for the general reader of any age, CHINQUA WHERE? also includes the seriousness and realism associated with bittersweet memories and the disappointments of rural family life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Fans of life in 1950's America should take note of this splendid and inspired book." -- TEXANA, Lone Star Book Review, October 2003

"The entertainment value of the book is its most obvious point." -- TexasEscapes, Book Reviews, July 2003

From the Publisher

This work portrays the "numerous humorous exploits, misadventures and shenanigans" of a youth while growing up in the East Texas backwoods community of Chinquapin during 1947-1955. While it is mainly intended as humor for the general reader of any age, including children, CHINQUA WHERE? also includes the seriousness and realism associated with bittersweet memories and the disappointments of rural family life. This is social history and humor at its best.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 319 pages
• Publisher: Willow Creek (September 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972965505
• ISBN-13: 978-0972965507
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,609,536 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Fred B. McKinley is a fifth-generation Texan. He embarked on a long and distinguished career in the credit industry and retired with the Louisiana Department of Justice, where he served as a supervisory criminal investigator with the Attorney General's office. A native of Beaumont, Texas, McKinley completed undergraduate work at Lamar State College of Technology and his Master's at Lamar University. He also attended Louisiana State University, where he received a law enforcement certification.

He is the author or co-author of four books: A PLEA FOR JUSTICE: The Timothy Cole Story; Chinqua Where? The Spirit of Rural America, 1947-1955; Devil's Pocket, a novel; and the critically-acclaimed Black Gold to Bluegrass: From the Oil Fields of Texas to Spindletop Farm of Kentucky (co-authored with Greg Riley). McKinley has also contributed numerous articles to national and professional publications, and he is a strong supporter of the Innocence Project of Texas in Lubbock. He lives with his wife Dottie in Burleson, Texas, and he continues to write and lecture on the subject of reforms in the American system of justice.

For more information on his and co-author Dr. Charles Breithaupt's latest offering titled KING COTTON: Coach Cotton Robinson and the Buna Boys' Basketball Legacy, 1948-1963, published by Eakin Press, please visit Fred's FaceBook page at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fred-B-McKinley-Author/105770929453041#!/pages/King-Cotton-Coach-Cotton-Robinson-and-the-Buna-Boys-Basketball-Legacy/188910587849031

or the web site: www.cottonrobinson.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Escape To The Past, December 5, 2003

By 

Kimberly F. White "Dept. Of Mischief" (Woodville, tx. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: CHINQUA WHERE? The Spirit of Rural America, 1947-1955 (Hardcover)

I have just finished reading this book and I must admit that it has taken me a lot longer than I had expected. From the very beginning it was like stepping back in time to a place where I grew up. Back to a time when there were no freeways, telephones, computers or television sets. A place where a child could indulge in his own imagination, thinking his own thoughts and not what some Hollywood writers had put into his head. The reason that I took so long to finish this book was because I wanted to savor every single story in it. I grew up in this age and in the same general area, so I remember the court house at San Augustine. I also remember terms like "turtle hull" and I remember when cars had the dimmer switch on the floor. I had not heard the term "turtle hull" for so long that I had forgotten it. Each story was like a small mini-vacation that allowed me for one brief period of time, to escape from the hectic world that we live in and return to a peaceful, more carefree world. I am grateful to Mr. McKinley for writting this book and for helping to perserve these memories and for sharing them with us. I think this book would be excellent for the older generations to help bring back memories of the past and also for the younger generation to let them know that there really was a time when kids didn't have indoor plumbing, telephones, computers and television.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A "Down Home" Tale, November 18, 2003

By 

Dr. Rita M. Gardiol (Columbia, SC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: CHINQUA WHERE? The Spirit of Rural America, 1947-1955 (Hardcover)

McKinley's book, with its candid "down home" flavor provides a refreshing look back at a simpler time in American life. The author's narrative voice--that of the mischievous, carefree boy he was in those "good old days"--relates with warmth and humor his recollections of "the way things were" during his happy boyhood in rural Chinqua. A charming collection of anecdotes that celebrates the fundamental customs and values of rural America.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superbly written and informative autobiography, March 8, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: CHINQUA WHERE? The Spirit of Rural America, 1947-1955 (Hardcover)

Chinqua Where? The Spirit Of Rural America, 1947-1955 is a heartfelt collection of short essays and memories about author Fred McKinley's life growing up in rural East Texas during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Life without indoor plumbing, central heating, or running water, and in a place where baths were in washtubs, the children went barefoot in the summer, and when the main forms of entertainment were wandering the woods, listening to a battery operated radio, or watching movies on Sunday afternoon, are all part and parcel of this vivid retelling of rural Texas childhood. A host of vivid impressions make for an unforgettable trip down memory lane and combine to make Chinqua Where? a superbly written and informative autobiography.