Childhood in America has undergone a profound change in the last twenty ot thirty years. A Lifetime Ago juxtaposes a childhood of the 40's and 50's (and pretty much like those of the 60's and 70's) with what we now see in America. This book offers criticism, some gentle some less so, about what we see in today's child, but tempers those remarks with the laughter, learning, and adventures that many over fifty will easily be able to relate to-fond memories that all of us still hold dear.
Jerry Joyell was a teacher of English at both the high school and college level. He currently teaches a poetry course at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UConn/Waterbury. Born in Waterbury, CT (Brass Center of the World during WWII) in 1942, Joyell grew up in a "blue-collar" family but was heavily influenced by well-educated members of the extended family. Like so many other bllue-collar kids of his generation, higher learning became his goal. That led to a teaching position which gave him a front-row seat from which to observe the profound changes in American childhood.