A Simpler Time: Stories From A Vanishing Era [Hardcover]

Eric V. Youngquist (Author), John Robinson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2006

A Simpler Time is about life during the 1930s and 1940s in the Midwest as remembered by a curious and impressionable youngster. The author grew up in Dearborn, Michigan, when school classes were well-sprinkled with children whose parents - like his - were immigrants, attracted by job opportunities in a community that was home to Henry Ford and his powerful Ford Motor Company. Here are stories about an era when children had glorious free time, without constant supervision by adults, and when that time was generally spent outdoors. They tell of games that exist today only in distant memories, like rubber-gun wars, marbles, flipping baseball cards, and rushing to the back of the Iceman's truck to grope under his canvas cover for pieces of ice while he made his delivery. The author takes you back to that past era so you live it together with him, whether he is making silk thread from dried cocoons at Greenfield Village, hitching a ride on a freight train in Montana, standing lookout on the periscope shears of a submarine underway in the Pacific, or learning to milk a cow on a small farm near Milan, Michigan. It is also a coming-of-age story about a sometimes rebellious youngster who survives detours through trade school and the Navy and finally, at the University of Michigan, finds a direction for his life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Most interesting, especiatlly so because your existence in Dearborn paralleled mine and we shared the same Swedish heritage.... As I read your book, sometimes aloud to my wife, I expressed the same thought several times "That was the way it was." --G. Allen Hagelthorn, retired engineering executive.

What a fun and fascinating autobiographical set of stories! It brought back many of my own memories, of girls met but not forgotten, of loving parents, of moving in that "arch" from carefree kid to fairly focused adult.... --Prof. Byron Nordstrom, Gustavus Adophus College

Truly a great American success story - in every dimesnion, your mother's and father's, your Swedish extended family and friends, your neighborhood, but especially your personal story about you. --Dr. Horace King, retired Professor and Registrar, Michigan State University

About the Author

The author was born in Dearborn, Michigan, of immigrant Swedish parents. He was educated at the University of Michigan AB), University of Wisconsin (MA), University of Oslo (Fulbright fellowship), Cornell University (PhD candidate in English), Princeton University (on assignment from the State Department) and George Washington University School of Law (JD 1967). He spent 12 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, with overseas assignments in Thailand and Finland. He left the Service to pracice law, and spent the next 26 years as a corporate attorney. Retired since his wife died in 1993, the author travels and writes.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 335 pages
• Publisher: Voyageur Publishing Co., Inc.; First Trade Edition edition (July 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0929146050
• ISBN-13: 978-0929146058
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,118,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A really complete story about life during the 30's and 40's, May 15, 2006

By 

Southern Reader (TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Simpler Time: Stories From A Vanishing Era (Hardcover)

A Simpler Time is one of the best books I have read about a youngster's experiences growing up during the distant past. Author Youngquist does a great job of creating his world for the reader. His writing is clear and concise, and he helps me live his experiences along with him. I'm anxious to read what he has written about his life in the Foreign Service!