Our Titles
Growing Up In The Valley
By George Holmes
ISBN 1-891799-62-2
13-Digit ISBN
978-1-891799-62-4
Softcover - $16.95
Pages: 215, Size: 8.5 x 5.5
Scranton Native Looks Back Fondly In Touching Memoir
George R. Holmes has seen a lot in his lifetime, and traveled all over the world thanks to a long and fruitful career as a psychologist. But he keeps going back to his roots growing up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, as the youngest of four brothers in an Irish immigrant family.
The Scranton of Holmes’ youth was a steel and coal-mining town, a patchwork of immigrant communities bursting at the seams with memorable characters and stories of mischief, camaraderie, and family relationships. Much like James Joyce and the Dublin of his youth, Holmes remembers every street corner and personality of his beloved hometown. These rich memories of seemingly everyday events translate into anecdotes that are equal parts hilarious, warm and moving. Holmes’ memoir of growing up in Scranton is filled with stories that are both universal and unique.
Growing Up In the Valley is sure to be treasured by anyone has ever called Scranton home, and by others interested in learning in charming detail what it was like to grow up in America during the 1940s and 1950s.
Praise for Growing Up In The Valley
"George Holmes has written a warm, nostalgic, and touching memoir. It reminds us that when growing up in an ethnic neighborhood, there is no such thing as an identity crisis. If nothing else, you know who you are. If you forget, there are friends, uncles, cousins, brothers, and neighbors to remind you."
- Robert V. Heckel, Distinguished Professor Emeritus,University of South Carolina
"Dr. Holmes describes his early life in an Irish section of Scranton , Pennsylvania , with developing relationships to the broad variety of cultures that marked American cities in the 1940s and 1950s. While unique in particulars, Growing Up in the Valley describes what many of us have experienced, probably without the fascinating, reflective insights which he presents."
- J. A. Panuska, President Emeritus, University of Scranton
"Growing Up in the Valley is about family and place and the mechanism of memory. George Holmes is gifted with a sense of detail: the truth is always in the details. He looks back on his boyhood with affection, preserving a piece of time with his writing."
- Matthew J. Bruccoli, Jefferies Professor of English,University of South Carolina
"George Holmes eloquently captures the rich history and multiethnic heritage of northeastern Pennsylvania . From the coal mines and railroads to politics and religion, he brings to life his memories of growing up in the Lackawanna Valley."
- Valarie Wolff, Editor, The Scranton Journal
"Growing Up in the Valley is the best kind of history, a mixture of facts and personal anecdotes, creating a period piece full of local color, while telescoping the passage of years with superb narrative skill."
- Francis T. Borkowski, higher education consultant
"The dignity with which Holmes imbues his characters and his engaging conversational style fosters the hope that the reconsideration of the past leads us to the importance of the retelling of personal histories."
– Charlene Monahan Spearen, Assistant Director, South Carolina Poetry Initiative
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