Column: The Best Books Club, "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid," by Bill Bryson

When I was growing up in the 1960s in Cape Girardeau, phone numbers began with EDgewater; stores and gas stations were closed on Sunday; and “fast food” meant Wimpy’s or A&W. The vast majority of people attended church, had window air-conditioning, and adjusted rabbit ears or even turned the pole that held the TV antenna to bring in Channel 3 more clearly.

Bill Bryson’s memoir “The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid” took me back to that time in my life. His memories of growing up in Des Moines, Iowa, were uncannily similar to my own here in Cape, and as I read, I found myself smiling and nodding in recognition and even laughing out loud frequently.

Like Bryson, my neighborhood peers and I played outside from just after breakfast until the street lights lit up on Saturdays and summertime weekdays, coming inside only to eat lunch and supper. Not only were we outside, we were also unsupervised {gasp}.

We rode our bikes — without a helmet! — in endless loops around our neighborhood; played countless games of hopscotch and Red Rover; roller-skated on metal-wheeled strap-on skates in driveways and neighborhood streets; and participated in activities too numerous to mention here.

As idyllic as my childhood was, I’m perplexed and even a bit irritated by those who complain incessantly about society today as compared to life in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

They lament the civil discord and divisiveness that plagues our country, seemingly forgetting the civil unrest that rocked large cities across America in the form of violent protests against racial discrimination and our involvement in the Vietnam War. They cite tension between major countries and the war in Ukraine, forgetting, it would seem, the aforementioned war in Southeast Asia, as well as the Cold War, Bay of Pigs and not-long-past Korean War. They gripe about today’s youth, drug usage, declining morals and the like; my grandparents and parents were equally dismayed by the “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll” culture that made its debut when I was a child.

I’m certainly not advocating burying our heads in the sand while society and our country go to hell in a handbasket. I believe it’s important for each of us to do all we can so our country remains true to the high moral standards on which it was founded.

I believe it is equally important, however, to look around and be thankful for the countless things that make living here today so wonderful.

The Midwest is home to some of the best medical care in the country, and technology that makes our lives easier and more enjoyable is readily available. We have, for the most part, outstanding infrastructures that contribute to the quality of our lives.

Here in Cape Girardeau, children and adults alike can still ride bikes for hours on end; in addition to city streets and numerous large parks in which to ride, we can enjoy a long, beautiful trail.

We may not be able to purchase an A&W root beer float, but numerous locally-owned coffee/tea shops, ice cream shops and restaurants with a wide variety of tasty options dot our community. The Muny Band still offers weekly summer concerts, and we can now also enjoy First Friday concerts and activities.

Bryson is right; growing up in the Midwest in the ‘50s and ‘60s was wonderful in ways today’s youth will probably never fathom.

But, truth be told, Midwestern life — and more specifically, life in Cape Girardeau — is still great.

So, jump on your bike — don’t forget your helmet — and take a ride, visit some local stores, enjoy an ice cream cone, sit atop Cherry Hill to take in a baseball game, attend a performance by the local theater group, and enjoy!

__Some discussion points we’ll cover in our Facebook Live chat on Tuesday, May 9, at 4:30 p.m. include:__

1. Bryson paints the 1950s as an innocent, almost-idyllic time. Was it?

2. To what degree do the community ties and sense of identity that Bryson depict still exist in the Midwest today?

3. What were your thoughts on Bryson’s parents? Was their parenting style similar to that of your parents’?

4. Bryson states, “I can imagine there has never been a more gratifying time or place to be alive than in America in the 1950s.” Do you agree? Why or why not?

5. What favorite memories of your own childhood did this book bring to mind?

__Up Next__

Our next selection — “Old Heart,” by Peter Ferry — introduces us to Midwesterner Tom Johnson, a widower and retired educator who is being pressured by his two remaining children to sell the family home and move into an assisted living facility.

Patti Miinch, a resident of Cape Girardeau, is an author, mother and mother-in-law of two, grandmother of three and retired educator; while she has many loves, spending time with her family, sports, travel and reading top the list.