The eminent American historian grew up in a protected/isolated
small town in western Michigan synchronous with the turn of the
century and extending, as he went off to Oberlin, into World War I.
A firm but kind father (who appears here almost as frequently as
young Carton while other members of his family are scarcely
mentioned) and a moral, fundamentalist frame of reference place
this retrospective within the lengthening reach of the old frontier
where once familiar landmarks (steamers, trains, summer hotels, the
wilderness itself) became the casualties of modern times. "We lived
in Indian summer and mistook it for spring." There are the usual
wholesome outdoor activities - swimming, fishing, but no baseball -
there weren't enough youngsters to make up two teams. Quite a bit
of this deals with the local logging and lumbering (you may find it
a lot of wood to cut) and another dimming enterprise - the
"archaic" academe of former college Benzonia where he studied and
his father taught. Occasionally there's a little philosophical
distancing-forward to all this backward-glancing - was it a truly
freer and better way of life? In any case he preserves its simpler,
self-sufficient character without retouching it, or so it would
seem. (Kirkus Reviews)
Bruce Catton, whose name is identified with Civil War history, grew
up in Benzonia, Michigan, probably the only town within two hundred
miles, he says, not founded to cash in on the lumber boom. In this
memoir, Catton remembers his youth, his family, his home town, and
his coming of age. With nostalgia, warmth, and humor, Catton
recalls it all with a wealth of detail: the logging industry and
its tremendous effect on the face of the state, the veterans of the
Grand Army of the Republic who first sparked his interest in the
Civil War, the overnight train trips on long-gone sleepers, the
days of great resort hotels, and fishing in once clear lakes.
Although he writes of a time and place that are no more, his
observations have implications that both underline the past and
touch the future.
General
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