: Robert Goodman
: My American Dream and How It Ended
: BookBaby
: 9781543915693
: 1
: CHF 10.50
:
: Biographien, Autobiographien
: English
: 248
: kein Kopierschutz
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB
By the end of the 1960s, the American Dream as people of my generation -- the generation that grew up in the 1940s and 1950s -- knew it, had collapsed. For some, the chaotic and disheartening events of the 1960s led to profound changes in their outlook on life. In my case, the sixties ended with my family and I leaving the United States and moving to Israel. My generations early lives had been lived in a post World War II world that, while dynamic and changing, nevertheless retained America's traditional values and beliefs. The book describes a boyhood spent on the playground and dreams of being a sports hero. It tells the story of long train trips across the country from Los Angeles to Cleveland. The book delves into the life of a fully assimilated Jewish family and my quest to establish my Jewish identity. Despite the turmoil around me, I lived a traditional American life in the 1960s. I married and raised a family, earned a Phd and became a college professor, and stayed clear of the newly emerging drug culture and social protest. I kept inside the pain I felt when, one by one, the leaders I had believed in were assassinated. In the end, though, the unobservable but profound changes that were occurring within me, led to the decision to leave the United States. The last section of the book describes the very different world I and my family found in Israel.

Chapter1

A New Life

Mom was 24 and Dad 27 when they moved from Cleveland to Los Angeles. Both had been Clevelanders all their lives; and both had grown up in large, lower-middle-class families living in small, rented apartments. Dad was the eldest of three brothers and one sister 18 years younger than him, while Mom was a“middle” child, with two older brothers, each in his own way the apple of his parents’ eye, and one youngersister.

Although my Grandpa Max had a steady job, Mom’s family was poor when she was growing up. Once she told me that when she was in high school she had one dress, which she washed and ironed every night. A bright girl and an outstanding student, she must have been popular as well, because she was elected president of her class. Mom never told me anything about those days, anything about her hopes and accomplishments. Consequently, her high school years and the time from when she finished high school until she met Dad is a dark cave tome.

Neither of my parents had much experience outside of Cleveland, and neither had any big dreams about their future. Neither attended college; and, in fact, the only one among all their siblings who did so was Uncle Joe, who became a doctor. Dad entered the work force just as the Depression struck, and was one of the fortunate young men who had a steady job throughout the Depressionyears.

Engaged to be married, their plan had been to set up their new home in Cleveland Heights, which they both knew so well. Then, Dad received a job offer from Los Angeles that was to change their lives dramatically. At the time, he was working as a publicist for the Cleveland branch of the Warner Brothers theater chain. His job was to promote the movies and live entertainment at the grandly designed Warner Brothers moviepalace.

As Dad entered the office that day, his boss, usually a difficult and demanding taskmaster, greeted him with a big smile and invited him into hisoffice.

“I have some good news for you, Mort. A couple of weeks ago the folks out in LA asked if I could recommend someone for a publicist’s job. Although I hate to lose you, I decided that you deserve the chance to get ahead and wrote back to them singing your praises. Anyway, I just heard that they want you to come out to LA as soon as youcan.”

Caught completely by surprise, Dad couldn’t believe that he was being given this golden opportunity to be at the center of the action in the burgeoning new movie industry. He had no qualms about leaving Cleveland. As he once toldme,

“There was nothing holding me to Cleveland – not my family and not my friends. Cleveland was a boring, backward town and couldn’t compare with the excitement I felt when we arrived inLA.”

My parents had planned to get married several months later. Instead, there was a small ceremony attended by their immediate families, a couple of weeks after Dad accepted the job offer. There had been no time to acquire any possessions together – no furniture, no pots and pans, no dishes or silverware. They would be starting from scratch. Whatever life they were to have together would be one they would build entirely by themselves. Their new marriage had become an