A delightful collection of short stories and poems about growing up in mid-century America: 1950 to 1965.
Written by Kurt Struble
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“Forever an admirer…”
Karen (Karhoff) Lewis
“To step into these stories of a small-town mid-western boy is to experience them as if you were there. Perhaps you were. Kurt is a keeper of memories rich in vivid detail, genuine honesty, and vulnerability. There’s sentimentality mixed with humor, silliness even, when he resurrects the boy within. Stories told from that boy’s perspective evoke innocence and tenderness, making them both endearing and memorable. And though this was likely not the objective, you come to know and understand the man this boy became. – K”
WE WERE
Boomer Kids
I’m a small-town Boomer kid born at the midpoint of the twentieth century after World War II when our parents brought us into The Modern Age. We Boomer Kids grew up during the Golden Age of America 1950 – 1965.
Considering all factors, those fifteen years were the closest any civilization has come to perfection. We were the strongest nation in the world. There was widespread prosperity and upward mobility.We had just enough technology to make life more comfortable. Television was a newest invention. Through television, we defined ourselves as a nation reborn.
We Boomer Kids lived in a bubble of security and innocence. Free from fear, our minds were uncluttered by the ugly, grisly stuff today that, we would have considered unthinkable.
We walked or rode our bikes to school, went home for lunch and returned. We played sports by emulating older kids. Then we became models for younger kids. We shopped downtown where generations shopped before regional malls disconnected links to the past.
With our parent’s blessing we explored the surrounding fields and streams unhindered by busy highways around sprawling suburbs or the confines of gated communities.
We knew about life. Life surrounded us. It beckoned us to join it. We eagerly accepted the invitation. Our bikes took us where life lived. Life wrapped its arms around us.
With vivid detail, my stories the innocence of this world seen through the eyes of a ten year old boy growing up during the Golden Age of America.1950 – 1965.
I love my worlds. I go there often to escape the complexity of everyday life. I hope you love them too. I think you will.
Kurt Struble August 5, 2022
ABOUT
Kurt Struble
CONTACT ME
I grew up in Durand, Michigan, population 4,500, the railroad center of the state, during a fifteen year window of time I call the Golden Age of America 1950–1965. Three golden summers along the northern shoreline of Lake Huron on Tawas Point are the inspiration for many of my stories.
In 1965, I graduated from the same high school as my parents. My grandparents graduated from the same school during the early 1900s. I attended Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan, where, in 1969, I received my B.S. Degree in psychology with a minor in literature.
From 1969–1970, I taught third grade at the same elementary school I attended as a boy alongside teachers I had growing up.
After teaching, I spent a year in grad school, before migrating to Tarpon Springs, Florida. In 1976, I moved to New York City where I became a Placement Specialist with Enwood Personnel, 6 East 45th Street, in New York City.
I married my first wife, Suzanne, in 1976. We had one child, our daughter Laura Beth, in New York. In search of affordable housing, we moved to Port Charlotte, Florida in 1979 where our son, John Adam was born in 1980.
Jodi and I have been married for thirty-five years. Together we have four grown kids, four grandchildren, an angelic daughter-in-law, and two incredible sons-in-law. Retired now, we travel between our home in Port Charlotte, Florida, a cottage in Tawas, Michigan, Atlanta, Georgia, Seattle, Washington, and all points in between.
Thank you.
CONTACT KURT
Tales From A Midcentury Boy / Growing Up in Michigan 
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