Customer Reviews

I NEVER LOOKED FOR MY MOTHER And Other Regrets of a Journalist

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Joseph Ritz describes with raw honesty how the external forces throughout our lives shape the person that we become. His painful accounts of being raised by an adoptive psychologically paranoid mother and abusive father during America's years of depression and wars are told with a generous sprinkling of humor to avoid being too dark, but with an openness that draws on the reader's emotions. His success as a journalist gives hope that we can all overcome life's adversities. I recommend that you read it.

I Never Looked for My Mother
And Other Regrets of a Journalist
Joseph P. Ritz
Booklocker.com, Inc.
Genre: Autobiographical
ISBN: 1591138795, $14.95, 184 pp, 2006

This book is a memoir of short stories from the life of Joseph P. Ritz. He is an award-winning journalist, published author and playwright. He has a rich and varied background which adds to the interest, quality and humor in this book.

I think what impressed me the most about his life growing up was the impact the Catholic church had on his thinking and in particular on his ideas about sexuality and sinfulness. It's nice to know, judging from the number of children he sired, that he finally figured out the mystery for himself.

If you enjoy memoirs of interesting people who were involved in historical events, want to experience the challenges of growing up in another time with dysfunctional parents and are interested in knowing something about the newspaper business, I'm certain you will enjoy the author's story.

Other books by the author include The Despised Poor.

Reviewed by Kaye Trout - May 8, 2006 - Copyright

Any one with newspaper experience will empathize with the autobiography of this author as he relates the rough and tumble life of a reporter moving around the country from one small town paper to another until he finally lands on the metrpolitan Buffalo News. With humor and appreciation, the author descrbes the foibles and characters of the editors who peopled his career. His career spanned the years that began the consolidation and demise of newspapers around the country. He was working for the Buffalo Courier Express when it closed in 1982. He describes his roll as a guild officer,and the frustration and bitterness felt by himself and associates at the demise. The author did not arrived at his career the easy way. His descriptions of a paranoid mother and father who often expressed himself with violence makes one wonder that he was able to achieve his goal of becoming a writer. His story of achieving a college education and his goal of writing deserve our admiration.