Jeremy Joyell

A Lifetime Ago: Before the Death of Childhood Jeremy Joyell

Step back to a simpler time when an ice cream sandwich cost a dime, a seventeeninchPhilco console television was the niftiest thing on the block, and kids dancedto the tunes of Doris Day, Joni James, and Patti Page. A Lifetime Ago follows thenostalgic adventures and poignant childhood of Jerry Joyell, an average kid of the1940s and 1950s. Born in 1942 in Waterbury, Connecticut, Joyell grew up in an era of profoundchange in post-World War II America. The son of working class parents, he learnedthe importance of family and came to appreciate the modest yet abundant life hismother and father provided for him and his brother. Whether it was a visit to Pat'sBarbershop for a haircut, long summer evenings playing with friends in the park,or picking blueberries so his mother could make her famous muffins, heexperienced the beauty of life beyond his front door. Joyell infuses his memoirwith insights concerning today's youth, adding a thoughtful commentary onchildren past and present. From his first memory of watching Pinocchio with his father on V-J Day in 1945to his final excitement-filled eighth grade year at Bunker Hill Grammar School, Jerry Joyell presents a vivid, evocative portrait of America during its heyday.