The 1960s were a tumultuous time of free love, civil rights and anti-war activism, and for three Milwaukee high school friends, the paths they chose during the summer of 1967 defined them for a lifetime. My Summer on Haight Street by Richard Rice Jr. shares the story of three recent high school graduates—one who moves to Haight Street in San Francisco, one who enlists in the army and ends up in Vietnam and a third who dodges the draft and seeks an alternative lifestyle.
A work of fiction, this coming-of-age story is nevertheless based on real people and real events as it recreates a time in our recent history that was filled with political unrest, outrageous experimentation and a changing of the tides in our society. It is an insightful chronicle of young men from the Midwest trying to find their place in the larger world amidst a chaotic time in U.S. history. The author is a Milwaukee native who graduated from Riverside High School before moving to the Haight-Asbury District in the height of the hippie era. In addition to My Summer on Haight Street, Rice has written two screenplays, two sports documentaries, numerous short stories and several magazine articles. Richard Rice Jr. will speak at Boswell Book Co. on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m.
Book Happening
Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books
Sept. 20-22
UW-Waukesha campus
1500 N. University Drive
“To Books and Beyond—Literacy without Limits” is the theme of the 2013 Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books. Among numerous live author readings, keynote speaker and author Kathie Giorgio will debut her second novel, Learning to Tell (A Life) Time, the sequel to her 2011 award-winning The Home for Wayward Clocks. More information can be found at sewibookfest.com.
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