Front Stoops in the Fifties by Michael Olesker

Front Stoops in the Fifties by Michael Olesker

Front Stoops in the Fifties recounts the stories of some of Baltimore's most famous personalities as they grew up during the "decade of conformity." Such familiar names as Jerry Leiber, Nancy Pelosi, Thurgood Marshall, and Barry Levinson figure prominently in Michael Olesker's gripping account, which draws on personal interviews and journalistic digging. Olesker marks the end of the fifties with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. "It's as if millions will suddenly decide to act out their anxieties and their rage, as if Kennedy's murder exposed some hypocrisy at the heart of the American dream," he writes. Focusing on the period leading up to this turning point in U.S. history, Olesker looks to the individuals living through the changes that were just beginning to surface and would later come to prominence in the sixties. The fifties are often remembered with longing as a more innocent time. But it was also a suffocating time for many. Alongside innocence was ignorance. Olesker tells the story of Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi, daughter of the mayor, who grew up in a political home and eventually became the first woman Speaker of the House. Thurgood Marshall, schooled in a racially segregated classroom, went on to argue Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka before the U.S. Supreme Court and rewrite race-relations law. Even the music changed. Olesker's doo-wop portrait of Baltimore is nostalgic, but it has a hard edge.

Front Stoops in the Fifties is a fascinating read; one which convincingly makes the case that what was happening in the Baltimore of the 1950s was a microcosm of the shift that was happening all across AmericaThe shocking part is just how relevant these stories remain today. Baltimore Post-Examiner

Michael Olesker wrote a column for the Baltimore Sun for twenty-five years. He is the author of five previous books, including Michael Olesker's Baltimore: If You Live Here, You're Home, Journeys to the Heart of Baltimore, and The Colts' Baltimore: A City and Its Love Affair in the 1950s.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781421411606
ISBN 10	1421411601
Title	Front Stoops in the Fifties
Author	Michael Olesker
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Johns Hopkins University Press
Year published	2013-12-27
Number of pages	248
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable