“Over three years, writer Jim Merkel gathered memories from more than 100 people who grew up here over the last century. From playing marbles to working in restaurants to losing family in world wars, St. Louisans spent hours recounting what they remember for his book” - Jane Henderson, stltoday.com
Jim Merkel grew up in Des Peres and Webster Groves and has been a journalist in the St. Louis area for three decades. His previous books for Reedy Press were Hoosiers and Scrubby Dutch: St. Louis's South Side; Beer, Brats, and Baseball: St. Louis Germans; The Making of an Icon: The Dreamers, The Schemers, and The Hard Hats Who Built The Gateway Arch; and The Colorful Characters of St. Louis. He lives in the Bevo Mill neighborhood of St. Louis with his wife, Lorraine.