Just kids from the Bronx : telling it the way it was : an oral history / Arlene Alda.

Title:

Author:

Alda, Arlene, 1933-

ISBN:

9781627790956

(hardback)

1627790950

Edition:

First edition.

Publication Info:

New York :

Description:

xxi, 310 pages : illustrations, map ; 22 cm

Contents:

ONE. FRESH AIR...A LUCKY BREAK -- A.M. ("Abe") Rosenthal -- Carl Reiner -- Martin Bregman -- Leon Fleisher -- Lawrence Saper -- Mary Higgins Clark -- Jules Feiffer -- David Yarnell -- Milton Glaser -- Mildred S. Dresselhaus -- Regis Philbin -- George Shapiro and Howard West -- Mark Cash -- Arlene Alda -- Michael Brescia -- Emanuel ("Manny") Azenberg -- Avery Corman -- I.C. ("Chuck") Rapoport -- Colin Powell -- Lloyd Ultan -- Dion DiMucci -- Barbara Nessim -- TWO. I SAY IT'S THE TEACHERS...DESTINY -- Al Pacino -- Robert F. Levine -- Suzanne Braun Levine -- Steve Janowitz -- Margaret M. O'Brien, S.C. -- Joyce Hansen -- Robert Klein -- Julian Schlossberg -- Anonymous -- Rick Meyerowitz -- Joel Arthur Rosenthal (JAR) -- Millard ("Mickey") S. Drexler -- Andy Rosenzweig -- Kenneth S. Davidson -- Daniel Libeskind -- Valerie Simpson -- Arthur Klein -- Dava Sobel -- Robert F.X. Sillerman -- Maira Kalman -- THREE. ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS, WE PRINT...THE GIFT IN THE RIVER -- Sam Goodman -- Chazz Palminteri -- Daniel ("Danny") Hauben -- Louise Sedotto -- Steve Jordan -- Neil deGrasse Tyson -- Michael R. Kay -- Melvin Glover (Grandmaster Melle Mel) -- Jaime ("Jimmy") Rodriguez, Jr. -- Luis A. Ubiñas -- Bobby Bonilla -- Sotera ("BG 183") Ortiz, Wilfred ("Bio") Feliciano, and Hector ("Nicer") Nazario (members of Tats Cru) -- Majora Carter -- Carlos J. Serrano -- Renee Hernandez -- Ruben Diaz, Jr. -- Jemina R. Bernard -- Amar Ramasar -- Gabrielle Salvatto -- Erik Zeidler.

Subject(s):

Successful people -- New York (State) -- New York.

Oral history -- New York (State) -- New York.

Children -- New York (State) -- New York -- Social life and customs.

Holds: Copies (not including on-order items):

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Call Number	Shelf Location	Status	Item Holds
Searching... Monument Library	Book	974.7275 ALDA	Nonfiction	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

"A down-to-earth, inspiring book about the American promise fulfilled." -President Bill Clinton

"Fascinating . . . . Made me wish I had been born in the Bronx." -Barbara Walters

A touching and provocative collection of memories that evoke the history of one of America's most influential boroughs-the Bronx-through some of its many success stories

The vivid oral histories in Arlene Alda's Just Kids from the Bronx reveal what it was like to grow up in the place that bred the influencers in just about every field of endeavor. The Bronx is where Michael Kay, the New York Yankees' play-by-play broadcaster, first experienced baseball; where J. Crew's CEO Millard ("Mickey") Drexler found his ambition; where Neil deGrasse Tyson and Dava Sobel fell in love with science; and where local music making inspired singer-songwriter Dion DiMucci and hip-hop's Grandmaster Melle Mel.

The parks, the pickup games, the tough and tender mothers, the politics, the gangs, the food-for people who grew up in the Bronx, childhood recollections are fresh. Arlene Alda's own Bronx memories were a jumping-off point from which to reminisce with a nun, a police officer, an urban planner, and with Al Pacino, Carl Reiner, Colin Powell, Maira Kalman, Bobby Bonilla, Mary Higgins Clark, and many other leading artists, athletes, scientists, and entrepreneurs-experiences spanning six decades of Bronx living. Alda then arranged these pieces of the past, from looking for violets along the banks of the Bronx River to the wake-up calls from teachers who recognized potential, into one great collective story, a filmlike portrait of the Bronx from the early twentieth century until today.

Author Notes

Arlene Alda is an American writer and photographer. She was born in the Bronx, New York, on March 12, 1933. She attended Hunter College, majoring in music, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Cum Laude, in 1954. She then received a Fulbright Scholarship to study clarinet in Cologne, Germany.

After achieving her dream of becoming a professional clarinetist, Alda switched careers and became an award winning photographer and author. She has written numerous books for children, including: Except the Color Grey, Lulu's Piano Lesson, Hello, Good-bye, Iris has a Virus and Here a Face, There a Face. She also has several titles aimed at adults, most notably; Just Kids from the Bronx, 97 Orchard Street, The Last Days of MASH and On Set- A personal Story in Pictures and Words.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Memories of the serenity and cleanliness of the Bronx river and its population of snapping turtles; taking turns answering the one phone in the building; lively congregations on rooftops; playing outside at a time when sports were spontaneous and free, in a culture of letting kids play outside: these are just a smattering of the memories in the 60-plus stories shared by a myriad of people who grew up in the Bronx. The storytellers range from 92-year-old Carl Reiner to 23-year-old Eric Zeiglerand and include political figures such as Colin Powell and celebrities such as actor Al Pacino and author Mary Higgins Clark. Though the stories are as diverse as the people telling them, there is a common thread of warmth and fondness in their childhood memories. The stories highlight America's rich roots and a core attitude that schools and parents, as well as teachers and temples, were an important part of the storytellers' communities and lives. The numerous voices presenting these oral histories are flowing, velvety, glib, humorous, and always passionate. Though not all the narrators have as clear or resonant a voice as one of the main narrators, actor Alan Alda (the author's husband), the variation adds to the overall sense of diversity and the authenticity of the stories. This is an informative and heartwarming retrospective of life in the Bronx, in addition to an enlightening look at the changes in our society and culture. A Holt hardcover. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

Alda (Lulu's Piano Lesson) presents a collection of 65 short tales of childhoods spent in the Bronx. Because events are seen through the eyes of children, the stories have little to do with the Bronx, despite the book's title. Instead, the stories tackle the problems of children: friends, family, and personal aspirations. The time between the events in the stories and the present day makes most of the stories seem hazy, nostalgic, and almost fictional. The mini-autobiographies are not all written by professional writers or speakers but also by doctors, teachers, and artists-and vary in quality as a result. Alda chose mostly interviewees who represent the immigrant Jewish population who lived in the Bronx in the 1930s-1960s, although there are a few representatives of the primarily African American and Hispanic people living in the Bronx today. The stories do offer an engaging look at how immigration and poverty have changed in America in the past 80 years. Verdict Good for older general readers who grew up in the Bronx and those who enjoyed Myrna Katz Frommer's It Happened in Brooklyn.-Jessica Spears, Monroe Coll. Lib., Bronx, NY (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.