Michael Bourgo

Once Upon a Time Growing Up in the 1950s Michael Bourgo

In this memoir of his life up to the age of fourteen, Michael Bourgo recalls what it was like to grow up in a time when the rules were a little stricter, but children enjoyed a great deal more freedom to roam and explore. He remembers the ways that he and his younger brother filled their time in an era without smartphones, video games-and even for a while-television! Along the way he includes affectionate remembrances of his parents, teachers and other mentors, and presents a portrait of his hometown, Aurora, Illinois, in that last decade before the downtown began to give way to the shopping mall, the movies lost out to TV, and people stopped traveling on trains. You'll meet some of the memorable characters he encountered growing up and learn what it was like to live without fast food, online shopping, and the NFL on TV every Sunday. It was indeed a different era, perhaps the last few moments before life started accelerating into the 7 X 24 mad dash that it has become today.