Carson at the Fence Lines: Coming of age in rural America in the turbulent 1960s

Carson at the Fence Lines is a father's recollections as told to his brassy teenage daughter about the benevolence and complexities of his 1960s childhood days in the town of Carson City, Michigan, population 1,043. We Boomers recall the sixties like a slideshow of stark black and white photographs. The images are of student protests, burning draft cards, and Volkswagen Beetles set to a psychedelic soundtrack of Vietnam War protest music. These urban memories deceive us. The fact is most kids developing in those turbulent times lived in the boondocks. Little sleepy towns are a myth. Instead, they buzz with effervescent characters, captivating community celebrations, and one-off episodes that endure long in local legend. It's the "live wires" that made growing up in Carson City a blessing. This is especially true for boyhood pal and sometimes mischief-maker Mark Monoly and his best friends Brenna, Darby, and "The Nocks". Their school, venerable and financially compromised St. Mary Academy, closes as they enter their high school years. The Catholic kids mix well in their new corporeal world but never escape the fundamentals of their catechism lessons. As new public preps, they come of age surrounded by an exploding culture. Teachers, benevolent residents, and clergy are there guiding them through the incoherence of the late1960s. This retrospect explores the overt and subtle changing ways of life for these friends in the class of 1970. Mark and his teenage friends are models of complicity, but when conscience compels, they act out with "in your face" confrontations to those who censure their reading of Henderson the Rain King. Based on actual events, this fictionalized account recalls their pranks, joys, disappointments, lessons learned, conflicts, and tragedies in an era that tested the fundamental decency and virtues in the heartland.

Author: R. Michael Beahan

Publisher: Independently Published

Publication Date: 43991

Number of Pages: 278 pages

Binding: Fiction

ISBN-10:

ISBN-13: 9798650420149