Frequently asked questions.
Why did you write Mianus Village?
John Lenox, the renowned British scientist, once said, “a person without a past is a person without an identity.”
Perhaps that is why we are so interested in family history and genealogy. Fitting our lives into a larger story seems to satisfy a basic human need. For Baby Boomers, their children and grandchildren, that larger story centers on their Greatest Generation parents, who once saved the world from tyranny and genocide. Nostalgia for the 1950s and 1960s is equally important.
I wrote Mianus Village to take people back to their origins. It is my hope that this little book will briefly quench that restless search in all of us to connect with our past and remember simpler times.
What Does the “Greatest Generation” Mean?
The generation is generally defined as people born from 1901 to 1927.
They were shaped by the Great Depression and were the primary participants in World War II. Following the war, this generation birthed the Baby Boomers and later became the grandparents of Generation X and the millennials.
All told some 16 million “Greatest Generation” men and women fought in WWII. Over 400,000 died for their country.
Today they are honored each Memorial Day for the sacrifices they made so we might live full and free lives. Although less than 1% of these heroes are among the living, 70 million of their children are alive and will never forget their legacy— whether shared or silently endured in the years after WWII.
Who are the Baby Boomers?
According to The History Channel, the so-called “baby boom” began in 1946, when a record number of post-WW II babies–3.4 million–were born in the United States. About 4 million babies were born each year during the 1950s.
In all, by the time the boom finally tapered off in 1964, there were almost 77 million “baby boomers.” Some 70 million are still alive today.
Interested in knowing more about Baby Boomers? Click here to read more about their habits, life styles, and preferences.
Why doesn’t Mianus Village doesn’t read like modern poetry?
In a few words: Because the vast majority of people don’t get and don’t read modern poetry.
Unlike the intricate allusions and esoteric symbolism of modernist poetry, Mianus Village follows the oral tradition of old ballads. Its modern day equivalent is Country Music. Both tell stories with universal themes. They rely on language that is lean and accessible: full of speed, simplicity and emotion.
In writing Mianus Village, I have aimed at the populist heart of humanity. It attempts to balance literary sensibilities with straightforward language to help--in some small way--expand the limited audience of contemporary poetry.
What was it like growing up in the 1950s?
Jacquelyn Celmer Preiss-Bender, former Editor, Columnist, Reporter at CHEBOYGAN DAILY TRIBUNE, has penned one of the best remembrances of our lost youth. Here is an excerpt from her essay:
“It was the best of times — even during the worst of times.
“We spent the days going to school and the evenings playing out on the neighborhood streets until the streetlights came on. Neighbors sat on their porches in the summer and talked to everyone and anyone. Kids played softball in the streets, or tag, or hide-n-seek. Nobody stayed indoors in the summer. If kids wanted to go somewhere, they’d walk, hitchhike, or jump on their bikes to get there. [Parents never had to worry their missing child would end up on an Amber Alert or a Missing Child Poster in a Post Office.]
“Saturdays were usually spent helping with chores at home until noon. Boys mowed the grass and had paper routes. Girls helped with the laundry and babysat. Clothes were hung on the lines outdoors to dry…
“Kids often headed to the local theater where 25 cents got you a double-matinee. For 10 cents more, you could purchase enough candy to munch on for the four hours spent in the theater…
“Most stores were closed on Sundays — even grocery stores. Families went to their place of worship and spent the rest of the day usually visiting with relatives…
“…In the summers, doors were left open as well as the windows because there wasn’t central air-conditioning…. If it was extremely hot, someone would turn on their lawn sprinkler and kids would spend hours running through the cool mist. Wet bathing suits and towels were hung on the clothesline in the backyard — because that’s just what we did …to save on electricity.
. ..There were only four TV stations where I grew up…. We had real entertainment back then with shows like Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Have Gun Will Travel and Alfred Hitchcock. Comedy — clean and real comedy — came in the form of the Red Skeleton Hour, Jack Benny and Abbott and Costello.
Television networks were not allowed to broadcast shows that contained nudity, swearing, sexual innuendo or senseless mind-numbing Kardashian Krap… Modesty ruled the airwaves.
“…Oh Lord, I could go on and on about the 50s. People were honest and hard-working back then. No one got food stamps or subsidies. Very few got divorced. No one wore pants that displayed the crack of their ass. Everyone who had an older brother or sister wore their hand-me-downs — even though America was booming and the automobile industry provided jobs for almost everyone in Detroit…
No one could be admitted to a school — private or parochial — unless they provided proof of vaccinations.
The 50s saw a wave of polio and its crippling effects made lasting impressions. We all stood in line for hours to get the polio vaccine which was applied on a sugar cube that we ate without hesitation because no one wanted to end up in an iron lung. Polio was eradicated late in the 50s.
“…If you mouthed off to your parents, you can bet you’d be disciplined immediately. No “time-out” in some silly chair. One whack on the butt was all it took to straighten out your act. There seldom was a second act.
“Because teachers were allowed to discipline children, classrooms were quiet rooms where kids learned and obeyed. The last thing any kid wanted was the principal making a phone call to a parent. That always brought more discipline — not some parent threatening to sue a school.
“What was life like in the 50s? It was the best of times because people knew that the worst of times evolved from undisciplined and entitled couch potatoes — although there weren’t any couch potatoes in the 50s.
“Families prayed together and stayed together. They provided their own food, cleaned their own messes, paid their bills, had pride in ownership and found a multitude of ways to entertain themselves simply by going outdoors.
“Life was extremely good — even at its worse.”
Were parents stricter back in the day?
Absolutely. For better or worse, it was a time in which the nuclear family was intact and parents set firm limits on the behavior of their children. In our home, if you did not come home for dinner at 6 PM, you went to bed hungry.
If you shoplifted a candy bar or magic marker, our mother took us back to the store—not just to return the stolen goods, but to promise the store manager you would never steal again. One kid in the village liked to play with matches. One May day he ignited a brush fire that got out of control. It took two trucks full of firemen to extinguish it. His punishment was swift and stern: He was confined to his front yard for the rest of the summer. And he had to reimburse one property owner for damage to a tool shed.
What was Pop Culture like in the 1950s?
Here’s how Wikipedia answer this question:
In the 1950s, televisions became something the average family could afford. By 1950, 4.4 million U.S. families had one in their home. The Golden Age of Television was marked by family-friendly shows like I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, The Twilight Zone and Leave It To Beaver. In movie theaters, actors like John Wayne, James Stuart, Charlton Heston, Marlon Brando, Grace Kelly, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe dominated the box office.
What was music like in the 1950s?
The 1950s saw the emergence of Rock ‘n’ Roll, and the new sound swept the nation. According to Wikipedia, Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, Sam Cooke, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, The Platters, The Drifters and Buddy Holly dominated the airwaves and record sales. It helped inspire rockabilly music from Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash.
People have compared Mianus Village to Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. How so?
The Mianus River is to Jack T. Scully’s narrator “Jackie” as the Mississippi River is to Mark Twain’s narrator “Huckleberry Finn.” First and foremost, both boys come of age in idyllic places: rivers and woods. Both authors employ the first person point of view so readers can experience the stories through Jackie and Huck’s eyes and personal perspective.
Like Thomas Hardy novels, there is a “painterly” quality to their writing. For both authors, stories are full of graphic detail that open one’s mind to long forgotten memories as well as “bits and pieces” of past lives. Though the stories are separated by 150 years, both boys come to realize through their personal experiences that stereotypes about minorities are dead wrong, the destructive nature of alcoholism, and the importance of self-reliance.
Both Jackie and Huck’s hometowns of Hannibal, Missouri and Riverside, Connecticut are full of colorful and eccentric characters. Both boys are “pure and innocent,” as Twain once describe his main character. They provide readers with a fresh perspective on the importance of brotherhood among all races, compassion, and the absolute need for honesty, respect, and accountability in a cold and indifferent world.