Customer Reviews

Catskill Culture: A Mountain Rat's Memories of the Great Jewish Resort Area

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Recollection of times spent with my family were brought back to life. Having married into the Siegel family that owned several hotels in the Swan Lake area, including the Commodore and the hotel my inlaws sold to the Dinnersteins; and the author having worked at the Commodore brought back many years of my youth. There is nothing so gratifying as to have someone write of part of your life, and this is What Mr. Brown has done. To go back even further, I remember playing with a small four piece "orchestra" at a place in Monticello, called Skliars - that was 64 years ago. What wonderful memories!.

I was born and raised in the Catskills, grew up on a chicken farm, and worked in resort hotels during my teens. I always thought this was a very special experience, and now Phil Brown's book brings it back with wonderful detail and confirms my feelings about how special it all was. This book is not only about Catskills culture; it is also about Catskills economics, and explains quite vividly how hard people worked to make the Catskills experience enjoyable for those who came for the summer.

I grew up in the Catskills. I worked as a caddy and lifeguard at Grossingers, showed movies at dozens of small bungelow colonies, and worked with my Dad (he was an electrician) at many hotels in Swan Lake (the Fieldston and Swan Lake Hotel. I also got to see some of the shows and particularly remember Jackie Mason hitting on my high school classmates. My most impressive experience was caddying, when I was around 15 years old, in a group with Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford and Roger Maris. This book cover it all along with many other historical chapters that bring many memories back.