(This is the seventh in a series of growing up in Lewisburg, West Virginia in the 1950’s, perhaps the greatest town and in the best time to grow up that a young man could ever ask for.)   Lewisburg was a Mecca for young bikers. Other than Washington Street, a fairly steep incline, most streets were level or close to it. We went everywhere on our bikes - in traffic and along the back … [Read more...]

The smaller the town, the friendlier the people. I know from experience. I grew up in the small town of Lewisburg. I had moved from a larger town, Beckley, WV, at age 11, where I left Freddie Arnold, my super-close friend, behind. In Lewisburg, I would make many super-close friends. Immediately, everyone welcomed me with open arms. The very first weekend after I began classes in Lewisburg, … [Read more...]

(This is the fourth in a series of growing up in Lewisburg, West Virginia, perhaps the greatest town and in the best time to grow up that a young man could ever ask for.)   Downtown Lewisburg was a living portrait out of a Norman Rockwell collection of nostalgia. There was main street and that was about it. Small stores in brick buildings lined Washington Street, the main thoroughfare … [Read more...]

(This is the third in a series of growing up in Lewisburg, West Virginia, perhaps the greatest town and in the best time to grow up that a young man could ever ask for.)   Describing Beckley, WV as hilly would be like saying that Warren Buffet has a little money. Beckley was not “hilly”. It was a town perched among mountains. Streets went vertically, not horizontally. There was one road … [Read more...]

(This is the second in a series of growing up in Lewisburg, West Virginia, perhaps the greatest town and in the best time to grow up that a young man could ever ask for.)   I had been uprooted at the tender age of 11 from my hometown of Beckley, WV to a place called Lewisburg, historic Lewisburg, they said. I couldn’t have cared less about the history part, all I knew is that my best … [Read more...]

(This will begin a series of articles about growing up in Lewisburg, West Virginia, perhaps the greatest town and in the best time to grow up that a young man could ever ask for.)   I heard the dreaded news in February1955. My father was an FBI agent and had been transferred from Beckley, WV to Lewisburg, a small West Virginia town of about 2,000. Why in the world would Mr. Hoover … [Read more...]

  “Hurry son! You’ll be late for school!” “I’m trying Mom. I can’t get my pants on. I think the pants legs shrunk!” Such might have been a morning conversation in any number of homes in the 1950’s. That’s because a certain fad called pegged pants swept all of Boomerhood, causing both young men and women to truly struggle in order to get their pants on. Pegged pants had their … [Read more...]

Boomer kids divided everything into months. January was noted for New Year’s Day and celebrations before heading back to school. February was cold, which meant snow, which meant school closings, which meant tearing down hills sides in a genuine Flexible Flyer sled and hoping for the best. March meant wind and wind meant kites. Kites were a big deal back then. Every kid had one. Some could … [Read more...]

  They are trying to resurrect American Idol. Good luck with that. I saw the first episode, and instead of focusing on talent, they do touchy, feel-good background stuff about the performers. It’s not who the best singer is, it’s who has the best, most politically correct sob story. They’ll have to get along without me for however long the show lasts – I’ll give it one season. But … [Read more...]