Van Ronk was there when it all started to happpen in the village ....
931765
Interesting CD from a folk music history point of view ... Van Ronk was a very intelligent guy totally committed to folk music with little regard for a big financial pay off ...hats off to a folk musician with great integrity !
945570
San Francisco, 1967.  The summer after the Summer of Love, when teenagers from all over the nation were coming to The Haight to be part of the new revolution.  But in The Haight, the residents were aware that, in fact, the movement was already fading.  This book addresses that period from the perspective of a nurse working in the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic, and sharing an old Victorian "commune" with 5 other roommates.  this is more like "a chapter in the life" (or lives, in this case) with beginnings and endings than an enclosed story.  The focus is on 3 primary characters who are all in a state of change - "finding yourself", as it were.  The author brings up a number of issues of the time, which was interesting.  As to the story itself, it has some repetitive moments, and what little 60's slang that was used seemed awkward within the dialog.  That being said, I enjoyed the time and place of the story, and did vest in several of the characters, so was pleasantly surprised by the "where are they now" summary at the end of the book.
4386125
I met Mr. Giffels when he collaborated with Steve Love on "Wheels of Fortune" a number of years ago.  That volume focused upon the demise of The Rubber Capitol of the World (Akron, Ohio) and this book of essays has much in it which touches upon that period.  As well, however, David branches out in all the directions he (and some friends) experienced growing up in Tiretown and rings true on virtually every page.  Some few will carp about the occasional vulgar usage, but sometimes truth has a rough edge to it -- in case you haven't noticed.  Anyone who lived in an industry-ruled city in the '50s, '60s, '70's and even '80s should find much to connect with here.
990191
Alhoewel die einde voorspelbaar is het ek die boek geniet. Die ontknoping was 'n verrassing. Lekker leesstof vir ontspanning. Sal meer van die skrywer se werk wil lees in die toekoms. Goeie waarde vir geld ook.
2642927
The gamut of emotions and experiences existed in Bageant's home town.  It was clever writing about a depressing existence.  Certainly, a harbinger of things to come in many towns across America.
3731163
I was among the graduates in the class of 1963.  So many of the photos from the early 50's forward bring back wonderful memories growing up in the Valley.  I even worked for Joel Stein at the Post Office while attending C.W. Post and Eddie Monahan at Piping Rock Club durring the summers while in LVHS. I wish I could be 13 again. Thank you for a wonderful overview of a great place to have grown up.
471801
Brooks has dropped us into the middle of the plague...spread though the bite of fleas from rats...and expects us to feel the anguish  of the loss of families, from children to the old.  How this village choses to deal with the horror is the reflection of the faith of the minister, his wife, and others who see themselves are able and willing to prevent others deaths.  But can a small village live with that horrific loss and not turn on itself?
1973649
This isn't as "gossipy" as some books on 54 I've read, and Mr. Haden-Guest was an eye witness to much of his story so it was very interesting.  Lots of history included about the club scene back then.
4168566
The "Low Dutch" people from the lowlands of the Netherlands first settled Nieuw Amsterdam in the early 1600s, some even before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in 1620. After the English takeover around 1664, our group of Low Dutch began migrating to New Jersey. Dutch colonists found this lush country across the Raritan River closer to their farmer hearts than stony Manhattan Island. A century later the prosperity of the country was a byword in British America. Dutch New Jersey was the garden spot and they were willing to fight for their lives to keep it. The story of the NJ Dutchman in the Revolutionary war has never been told before.

However, virtually everyone in the Hackensack valley had already taken sides in a factional war in the Dutch Reformed church, a war so bitter that few of the people on one side would have anything to do with those on the other side. When war came, most of one faction became Tories loyal to the King, the others fought just as hard for the Colonists (Whigs).
{NOTE: Early activists in the colonies called themselves "Whigs," seeing themselves as in alliance with the political opposition in Britain, until they turned to independence and started emphasizing the label "Patriots". Later, the United States Whig Party was founded in 1833, focused on opposition to a strong presidency, just as the British Whigs had opposed a strong monarchy.}

There is a problem with the Dutch names;  there must have been a half dozen each of Peter and John Demarest, at least four adult David Demarests, several Wiert Bantas and even more Johannes Blauvelts, Bantas, Vanarsdales (several spellings), Westervelts and other familiar Low Dutch names.

With the British fleet at hand and British soldiers twenty miles away, the Hackensack valley began to take on the character it was to hold throughout the long years of war, a meeting place for spies, deserters and all the shadowy characters that hoped to profit in such a place; hardly the countryside whose smiling fields had charmed visitors a few years before; hardly, in fact, a countryside to charm anyone.

Before reading this book I never realized how the Revolutionary War, like the Civil War, became a battle between neighbors, brother against brother and sometimes father against son. Amazing that my Low Dutch ancestors were able to survive it. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to better understand American history.
4572996
Beautiful detail lovely addition to a village that's over 20 years old.
1621367
This is one of van der Post's earliest books written in 1952 about his post WWII journey by "aeroplane" across Africa and to Nayasaland (Malawi)to survey the highlands of Mt. Mlanje and the Nyika Plateau for the colonial British govenment.

Anyone that has read Laurens van der Post knows that he is a master of description both of the land and the people he encounters.  I had wanted to read this book for years.  It was very highly recommended to me by a fellow Peace Corps volunteer while I was in Botswana in southern Africa.  After many years I found this on Amazon and finally read it and had a very difficult time putting it down to attend to the other demands of life.  It is a very good, engaging book.

As you read this you will have to look beyond the colonial perspective that van der Post had regarding the British and the Malawian "natives" and see the riches of the country and it's people of that period.  van der Post reflects often on the people and his recent return from his ordeal as a prisoner of war.
1453466
The people and the village become so familiar from one book to the next. But each book is a different story peopled with those who make up the town and new people whose stories impact them.
205836
On a spring day in 1989, the peaceful Long Island, NY community of Valley Stream was torn apart when 13YO Kelly Tinyes went missing, having been called away from babysitting her younger brother...after an exhaustive search by family and friends, Kelly's body was found the next day in a garbage bag hidden in the basement of neighbor John Golub, where it had been placed by his 21YO son, Robert, an unemployed bodybuilder and steroid user who was subsequently arrested for the murder.

Watkins does an excellent job covering all the details of this senseless murder and the subsequent trial, including:

- The investigation that ultimately led to Robert Golub's arrest, as well as suspicions concerning the potential involvement of his younger brother, John Golub, Jr. (aka "John Jay") and two of his friends
- Subsequent acrimony that developed between the victim's parents, Richard and Victoria Tinyes, and the killer's parents, John and Elizabeth Golub (as well as the Golubs' other neighbors)
- The media circus generated by the case and later trial, which ultimately returned a guilty verdict against Golub

On a side note, after nearly a quarter-century denying any involvement in Kelly's murder, an unsuccessful 2013 parole hearing saw Golub finally admit to having carried out the killing, then attempting to hide her body in a panic...questions also remain as to John Jr's involvement in the crime, which I think might warrant an updated edition of this compelling book in the near future.
2252165
As a newcomer to this area, I heard about the book from friends of the author and purchased the book.  It is a well written account of an interesting event in Erath County history.  It depicts rural life of the era and held my interest throughout the story.
526078
Especially interesting as he was a local resident.
644586
This little town became my town, my family, my  neighbors. This was my first Binchy book now on to the others.....
4711780
Me. Wiles did a wonderful job of making me care about the people of the village. Even though one character was a bit of a horse's hiney, there were no truly evil characters. Just real people you'd find in every day life. Well done!