Georgy Porgy

Entering the world backwards with a broken arm, the boy remained backwards, a left-handed runt known to the Chicago South Side bullies as Georgy Porgy of nursery-rhyme infamy. It was not easy being left-handed in the 1930s and 1940s, as many left-handers from those days will attest. Parents were disappointed, and teachers were scornful, demonstrating their disdain with voice and ruler. World War II was raging, and Chicago's South Side knew it well: mock air raids, alleged Nazi spies in the neighborhood, Rosie the Riveter, and radio heroes and arch villains surrounded us. Boys grew into teenagers, but life grew no easier, despite the unwanted intrusion into boy life in the form of adults, primarily parents. Living in the new demographic, boys faced numerous challenges-coaches, girls, drive-in movies, cars and acne. Told with loving and bemused affection for his family and the innocent days when play was really play, Georgy Porgy reminds us of what growing up was like in the good old days.