The Crazy Life of a Kid from Brooklyn

by Morgenstein Bill

My dream then was to play baseball for the New York Yankees. I was on the Stuyvesant baseball team, but because of my working hours, my playing time was limited. During my time at public school I was quite the rascal, along with my best friend Louie. In high school I continued my antics, only without Louie, who went to a different school. At the University of Alabama my cray antics were somewhat moderated after I met and married my wife, Sylvia. While waiting to be drafted into the service I got a job with my wife's relatives' footwear wholesale company traveling to the "Hill" country of Tennessee. After being drafted I was sent to Fort Jackson for basic training. My next assignment was Fort McClellan, Alabama. If was great duty since I was about sixty miles form where we lived in Birmingham. It was great that is until I was sent to Korea for 18 months. When I was discharged, my first dream to become a corporate president by the time I was 35 years of age and after 8 eventful years with Thom McAn shoes company that goal was fulfilled. After that I became and Executive Vice President of a shoe import-export company. At the peak of that career I formed my own company, which became quite successful. Throughout that period I traveled the world having fun, interesting and exciting times. I continued to experience the ups and downs of a life well lived in Bill Morgenstein's compelling new memoir, The Crazy Life of a Kid from Brooklyn. While first reminiscing upon his childhood in Brooklyn during the depression, Morgenstein traces his life through times of war, peace, and everything in between. At times funny and heartbreaking, The Crazy Life of a Kid in Brooklyn details Morgenstein's enlistment in the US Army, his days running a $55 million dollar company, his despair at losing it all to a scam, and much more. His chance encounters with such historical figures as Sergeant York, Cordell Hull, Sid Gordon, Telly Sevalas, Jomo Kenyatta, Ken Cole, Garry Marshall, Andy Williams, David Rockefeller and Vince Camuto, along with many others, provide amusing cultural touchstones that reveal a willingness to embrace everything life has to offer. Through all the successful, disappointing, dangerous, educational, and enlightening experiences that have shaped his life, Morgenstein remains philosophical as he explores the roles of ethics, honesty, and unfailing determination in shaping the human experience.