Tales of a New England Boyhood: Scituate, Massachusetts 1931-1946 - Softcover

Hattin, Donald

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1425942458 ISBN 13: 9781425942458

Publisher: AuthorHouse, 2006

Synopsis

With humor, sensitivity, and a keen sense of history, Don Hattin transports the reader back in time to Scituate as it was during the Great Depression and World War II. He introduces family members, gives a tour of his home, and describes the barn which was setting for much youthful mischief. Next, stories of Hatherly School, its teachers, and its activities, are related in vivid detail. Don entertains with accounts of construction efforts: a "train," playhouse, pirate "ship," underground hideout, tree houses, a boat, and two chicken coops. He acquaints us with several neighborhood characters: "Jere" Ainslie, whose small store featured genuine "penny" candy; "Lonnie" Pratt, hardware clerk at Seavern's Store; "Hymie" Cohen, the ragman; Eloise Curtis, bakeshop entrepreneur; Louis Haartz, hopeful builder of the sloop Rainy Day; "Pa" Swift, builder of $66.00 backyard swimming pool; and a host of playmates and teenage buddies. World War II is recounted in terms of scrap drives; food, gasoline, and shoe rationing; coastal defense; volunteer airplane spotters; emergency training; and air raid drills. Don shares his recollections of work experiences picking apples, sea mossing, grocery clerking, lobster fishing, and truck gardening. He further enlivens "Tales" with vignettes of secondary school teachers, classroom hijinks, athletic misfires, and graduation, among others. The book concludes with his departure for college, where he soon turned eighteen, thus ending a boyhood filled with lively action, lasting friendships and happy memories.

About this title

About the Author:

Donald E. Hattin is Professor Emeritus of Geology at Indiana University, where he joined the faculty in 1954. A native of Scituate, MA, Don attended Hatherly School and Scituate High School, graduating from the latter in 1946. Holding bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in geology, Don is known internationally for his research on Cretaceous-age fossils and strata. He is author of five geological monographs, numerous professional field-trip guidebooks, and many journal articles, and has also authored a definitive biography of his wife's grandfather, New England artist W. Ferdinand Macy. Don maintains active affiliation with the I.U. Department of Geological Sciences.Don is a United States Air Force veteran of the Korean War, and a member of the American Legion. He is also a member of the Indiana Society of Mayflower Descendants, and serves as chairman of the Society's scholarship committee. As a volunteer at the Indiana Railway Museum in French Lick, IN, Don shoveled coal on steam locomotives over a period of ten years, and occasionally drove steam locomotives. He is still engaged in steam locomotive restoration and maintenance. Don and his wife, Marjorie, have been married for nearly 56 years, have three grown children, and live on a country estate outside Bloomington.

About this edition

• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1425942458
• ISBN 13: 9781425942458
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 328