Download The Thick of Thin Memoirs of a WorkingClass Writer Harmony Memoir Series Larry Smith 9780933087750 Books
Download The Thick of Thin Memoirs of a WorkingClass Writer Harmony Memoir Series Larry Smith 9780933087750 Books
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In The Thick of Thin, Larry Smith writes of a life full of personal challenges, a life full of consistent engagement with the larger world, and a life full of commitment to making it a better place--as a husband, father, writer, editor. Smith has worn a lot of hats, and he's worn them well. His story here has the emotional resonance of all of his writing. Much of his life's work has been focused on making the point that working-class lives like his in communities like his are important to our culture and history, and he makes that point more strongly than ever in telling of his own in this memoir.
--Jim Daniels, author of Street Caligraphy
Download The Thick of Thin Memoirs of a WorkingClass Writer Harmony Memoir Series Larry Smith 9780933087750 Books
"Mingo Junction was the steel mill town in eastern Ohio in which the movie Deerhunter was filmed. Larry Smith was a boy who grew up there. The values of his hard working family stayed with him all his life – teaching, writing, publishing, sharing. This is a fine book both about a culture and the evolution of a writer."
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The Thick of Thin Memoirs of a WorkingClass Writer Harmony Memoir Series Larry Smith 9780933087750 Books Reviews :
The Thick of Thin Memoirs of a WorkingClass Writer Harmony Memoir Series Larry Smith 9780933087750 Books Reviews
- The book tells of the many experiences that come into your life and how each one builds upon the next. Mr. Smith writes with love and humor of his steel mill town and the people surrounding him. He uses the experiences to grow in his love of poetry and the desire to share as a teacher, writer, and publisher.
- In The Thick of Thin Memoirs of a Working-Class Writer, author, poet, professor and publisher Larry Smith looks back at a life that began in Appalachia.
Archeological records indicate that evolution does not occur at a slow, even pace. Its progress happens in jerks and starts, in pulls from ahead and pushes from behind. But you don’t have to dig in dirt and rocks millions of years old to locate that evidence. It can be as much the stuff of one human lifetime.
Were this narrative put to music, the conductor would have to find a clever way for the orchestra to reproduce the sounds of a rolling freight train, with all the clanks and screeches and squeals of car couplings and from undercarriage assemblies that hold wheels to rail.
Del Smith, Larry’s father, was a brakeman on the mill train in the Ohio River steel town of Mingo Junction, where a massive Wheeling-Pitt facility belched smoke and fired up the sky as it forged the community’s culture and the lives of every citizen. His mother Jean, with a rich sense of humor from her “Scot wit†that veiled her “Irish insecurity,†was the heart and soul of the family. Larry was the second-born of the four Smith children.
Soon after entering first grade in 1949, he became aware of the mill town’s ethnic diversity. “Here we shared desks with kids who were Black, or of Italian, Slovakian, Serbian, German, Irish, Polish, and Hungarian descent, to name only some.†This was also at a time when, hanging over every child’s head, was a dark cloud made of a mixture of the threat posed by Polio and widespread fear of communism that embroiled America in the Korean conflict.
Then, sixth grade teacher Mrs. Merzi “…handed me a treasure and tool for life—poetry and writing.†She gave out Little Blue Books, a series of classic writings provided on a weekly basis by a generous donor. Larry recalls that receiving and reading these little gems planted the idea in his mind to become a publisher of books himself someday.
This book contains a story about growing up and maturing as an adult. It is also about how learning opens the mind and soul, not only to new ideas, but to new possibilities. It is in the realm of possibility that a vibrant future lies. It is in recognizing what might be instead of just what is or was that leads a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian boy to fall in love with Ann, an Italian Catholic girl from a different neighborhood.
In both his professional and personal life, the author always yearns for what might be. His academic research leads him to uncover the brilliance of Kenneth Patchen, a San Francisco poet who otherwise would most likely have been left unrecognized. As a husband, father and grandfather, that yearning invites introspective development, including pursuit of eastern philosophies. In later years, he joins his wife’s Catholic faith, perceiving the church as an instrument to serve humanity through his volunteer work.
A blue-collar kid from Mingo Junction evolves into an accomplished author and publisher who yearns to reach out to others. It is only when he looks back after a long and engaged life that he grasps a perspective to see what’s really happened to him where his past has gone, how much his roots continue to flourish today, enriching his deep connection with humanity.
This is a story about the many invisible membranes a man must break through as he grows and matures. The breaking of each of those membranes has left its impression. Such impressions of learning, growing, and blossoming into life’s profound possibilities are what make up this wonderful book. - This book may be one of the most unique and honest works you'll ever read. It is also intriguing, with a mix of surprising elements, such as the concept of a Buddhist/Catholic faith. Also, I found myself wondering if amid his many great accomplishments he really moved past his Mingo heritage or if it's been the unshakable theme of his life all along. One thing is certain Larry Smith will never be anonymous from here on out because he has dared to openly reveal his past, his dreams, his hopes and all that is important to him. It's a brave and daring work that needed to be written.
- Mingo Junction was the steel mill town in eastern Ohio in which the movie Deerhunter was filmed. Larry Smith was a boy who grew up there. The values of his hard working family stayed with him all his life – teaching, writing, publishing, sharing. This is a fine book both about a culture and the evolution of a writer.
- Larry Smith writes a full, personal memoir, as husband/father, writer, and English professor. It's an interesting mix of history and emotional honesty; an enjoyable read.
- Larry graciously shares with us his journey into wisdom and literary accomplishments in this enduring memoir of a life well-lived.
- Fascinating portrait of the poet as teacher, editor, and biographer. The reader experiences the writer's first heartbreak, celebrates the birth of his children, mourns the loss of friends, and rejoices in his writing, his marriage, and his teaching. A good read.
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