1950s-1960s Fable

The story begins in the 1950s with two children, Tom and Cara, who live with their foster parents on a 12-acre farm in South Jersey. They are taught to help out on the farm, while pursuing their own interests and going to to school. Then, the children move to the North Shore of Staten Island wih their birth parents – adjusting to parents with different rules and different values, making new friends, and participating in urban street games like stick ball and jump rope. Interspersed in the narrative are sketches of important people and events of that era – Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, Jonas Salk, Billy Graham, Bill Wilson (AA), Dick Clark, and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. 1950s-1960s Fable is a fast-moving, upbeat story which is funny, sad, optimistic, and authentic, with larger-than- life characters who do not fret over life’s misfortunes. The story is about conflict, endurance, and growth during an idealistic time in America’s history.

The sun rose over the pale blue eastern sky-visible from the kitchen window of the Smith’s narrow six-roomhouse. Through this kitchen window much of their 12 acre farm could be seen. There were fields planted neatly with rows of corn plus the many kinds of vegetables of Mom’s truck garden. To the right was a winding narrow road that led to a chicken coop, pigpens, and a large enclosed turkey pen. The Smith farm was bounded by pine trees to the left, a long shallow creek, Hunt’s Creek, to the right, and a broken wooden fence at the far end of the property-not visible from the kitchen window. Suddenly the eerie quiet of the mild spring morning was interrupted by pigs squealing and snorting in the backyard.