By Dave Curkendall with Mack Richards and Ed Hatton
Huck Finn meets Jack Kerouac.
Three farm boys run away from their homes in UpstateNew York all the way to California to escape the consequences of a mailbox shooting incident. The year was 1952; the road is Route 66; Dave, Mack, and Ed were 16.
Believing they were pursued by the local police, they crowd themselves and their belongings into Ed’s 1936 Ford Roadster, leave their ancestral home and turn towards the open road. They runaway from home – or drive away if you will –escape the police and, temporarily at least, the consequences of their crimes.
After spending a harrowing week on the road, most of it on Route 66, they arrive in Burbank, CA, exhausted, near broke, but buoyantly happy that they have reached their goal. Neither the buoyancy nor the happiness is to last.
The story evokes a long-gone era when the world was new, the skies were clear, and headstrong boys could survive on their own surrounded by the essential goodness of the country.
This book is one part drama, two parts nostalgia, and a dash of contemporary philosophy thrown in.
Have you ever wondered what would have happened if you had run away from home as you often threatened? This book writes down what happened when the authors really did.
From bucolic upstate New York to beautiful downtown Burbank via mid-Century Route 66, a portrait of America when the world was new, the skies were clear and headstrong boys could survive on their own surrounded by the essential goodness of the country.
REVIEWS:
A choice pick for those looking for coming of age memoirs with a twist, March 10, 2010
Stupid childhood mistakes are the best way to learn. "Shooting the Mailbox: Coming of Age in Mid-Century America" is a memoir from three friends as they reflect on their adventure in their late teenage years. Blasting a mailbox, they believe their deeds are far more grave than they believe, and they find themselves fleeing all the way from rural New York to California to escape their punishment. What their punishment was, however, was a truly unique adventure. "Shooting the Mailbox" is a choice pick for those looking for coming of age memoirs with a twist.
Run-a-Way Teens - An Experiment in Independent Living, March 1, 2010
"Shooting the Mailbox" is a memoir of the adventures of Dave, Mack, and Ed from a rural community in Upstate New York. A teenage prank backfired and the three teenagers were soon cornered by the local representatives of the law. Rather than face the prospect of being sent away to Reform School the trio took Ed's car, Dave's $ 200 savings, and a few personal belongings, and left home, destination Burbank, California.
In farewell letters to their parents they promised to start school when they arrived at their undisclosed location, to find jobs, and stay out of trouble. Just days after arriving in California they were asked, by school officials, for an explanation of their reason for being in California. They responded with a brilliant story of being part of an experiment in "Independent Living" backed by their high school and authorized by their parents.
The experience in independent living turned to reality as they again found themselves in trouble with the authorities, living in cramped quarters, and with dwindling finances.
I just finished Shooting the Mailbox. Here's what I liked:
The reader cares about the three main characters. Curkendall gives them innocence, adventure, faults, introspection. On the page, they're very real to me and I wondered, at age 16, whether I would have had the courage to take off and explore.
I like how Curkendall gave the reader a sense of the 1950's context. For instance, it was a different world regarding communication-- information about telephone prefixes, difficulty in long-distance telephone service. Relationships seem different then - and there was knowledge that your obligations to parents, school, friendships, were important and consequential. And, reciprocally, people cared about the boys' well being. The author has employed good detail to show the reader what life was like both in Newark Valley farm communities (sap/maple syrup) and in glorious Southern California. I like how Curkendall named the streets/highways, described the weather, the jobs the boys had. I like the foreshadowing of the change in society with one mother's apparent addiction(s), part of the darker side of life. The author touched on it lightly, just enough to hint at the next decade or two.
The book is visual, engaging, and hard to put down. The author's has a fine, oblique sense of humor that adds perspective to the whole panorama of events. I can picture it as a comedic, coming-of-age movie - a guys' Thelma and Louise road saga!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Born and raised on a small farm in upstate NY, after surviving the travails described in this book, Dale Curkendall attended Cornell and UCLA, worked for many years at Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In the 80’s, he helped lead ACE Computers to brief prominence but returned to JPL to lead the Hypercube Project. He now lives in Altadena, CA.
SHOOTING THE MAILBOX
Category: Memoir/Adventure
ISBN: 978-1-934759-42-2
Soft Cover, 6 x 9, 160 pages, $14.95
