Tales of a Shirtmaker: A Jewish Upbringing in North Carolina [Paperback]

Frederick L. Block (Author), Susan Taylor Block (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2005

Part oral history, part memoir, this engaging story of a Jewish immigrant family who established one of the most successful garment-making businesses in the Southeast sheds light on Jewish life in the 20th-century South as well as many otherwise forgotten episodes in North Carolina's hometown history. Illustrated with nearly 100 never-before-published photos and documents. Includes geneaological chart.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Frederick T. Block served as CEO of Block Industries, Inc., the garment manufacturing firm his forebears established in Wilmington, North Carolina, in the 1920s. In this captivating memoir, he recalls not only his roles in the company—from traveling salesman just after World War II to executive leadership in a global industry decades later—but the experience of growing up Jewish in a genteel, and largely gentile, Southern city. Block served as director of the North Carolina National Bank, Cape Fear Academy, and Figure Eight Island Homeowners’ Association. He retired from active involvement in the Block firm in 1985.

Susan Taylor Block, a native of Wilmington, is a writer and historian in her hometown. Author and researcher of ten books on Wilmington-area history, in this volume she collaborates with her husband in telling his unique story. She was awarded the Clarendon Cup from the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society (for her history of Airlie Gardens) in 2003, as well as the organization’s Society Cup in 1998 and 2002. In 1999 she was recognized by the North Carolina Society of Historians (East) as Historian of the Year. She holds the A.B. degree from the University of North Carolina.

Product Details

• Paperback: 186 pages
• Publisher: Winoca Press; 1St Edition edition (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0975591010
• ISBN-13: 978-0975591017
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,635,577 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)