Just Kids from the Bronx: Telling It the Way It Was: An Oral History

by Arlene Alda

A touching and provocative collection of memories that evoke the history of one of America's most influential boroughs-the Bronx-through some of its many success stories

The vivid oral histories in Arlene Alda's Just Kids from the Bronx reveal what it was like to grow up in the place that bred the influencers in just about every field of endeavor. The Bronx is where Michael Kay, the New York Yankees' play-by-play broadcaster, first experienced baseball; where J. Crew's CEO Millard ("Mickey") Drexler found his ambition; where Neil deGrasse Tyson and Dava Sobel fell in love with science; and where local music making inspired singer-songwriter Dion DiMucci and hip-hop's Grandmaster Melle Mel.

The parks, the pickup games, the tough and tender mothers, the politics, the gangs, the food-for people who grew up in the Bronx, childhood recollections are fresh. Arlene Alda's own Bronx memories were a jumping-off point from which to reminisce with a nun, a police officer, an urban planner, and with Al Pacino, Carl Reiner, Colin Powell, Maira Kalman, Bobby Bonilla, Mary Higgins Clark, and many other leading artists, athletes, scientists, and entrepreneurs-experiences spanning six decades of Bronx living. Alda then arranged these pieces of the past, from looking for violets along the banks of the Bronx River to the wake-up calls from teachers who recognized potential, into one great collective story, a filmlike portrait of the Bronx from the early twentieth century until today.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, Memoir, Historical, Oral History, Biography Memoir

336 pages, Hardcover

First published March 3, 2015

About the author

Arlene Alda graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Hunter College, received a Fulbright Scholarship, and realized her dream of becoming a professional clarinetist, playing in the Houston Symphony under the baton of Leopold Stokowski. She switched careers when her children were young and became an award-winning photographer and author who has written nineteen books, including Just Kids from the Bronx. She is the mother of three daughters and the grandmother of eight. She and her husband, actor Alan Alda, live in New York City and Long Island.

Reviews

[Gail Cooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this oral history as told by some who grew up in the Bronx makes one wish to have been born there. After all, as Mary Higgins Clark said, “There are only three places that have a ‘the’ in front of their name: the Vatican, The Hague and the Bronx.” Alda interviewed more than 60 Bronx natives and each has warm, down-to-earth, happy memories of growing up in those few blocks of New York.. And perhaps even more important than their rags to riches stories is the reminder that in America all things are possible.

This author must be a sincere, sympathetic listener for folks have told her all kinds of stories which she shares with us whether it be Carl Reiner’s father who is described as not being a joiner so they weren’t members of a synagogue yet he talked a rabbi into renting a synagogue in a poor neighborhood for Carl’s bar mitzvah - attended only by his father, mother, brother and a group of old bearded strangers.

The aforementioned Mary Higgins Clark lived on the same block as Jake LaMotta and a fellow down the block who was envied because his son had a “snappy roadster.” Turns out the envied fellow was on the “Ten Most Wanted List.”

Whether it be Regis Philbin, Colin Powell, Al Pacino or a host of others including the enterprising young fellow who made pin money by answering the phone in the neighborhood candy store then running down the block to tell someone they had a phone call. (Most people before the war didn’t have phones.) So, the boy would simply pick up the phone with, “Who do you want to talk to?’ Then ascertain the address and apartment number. He says if he was lucky he only had to run down the block and up two flights. Yes, tipping was hoped for - two pennies was a weak tip, a nickel a good tip and a dime was pure gold!

Don’t miss Just Kids From the Bronx - sheer delight!

- Gail Cooke

[Laura Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adored this book. You don't have to be from the Bronx or a New Yorker to appreciate Arlene Alda's incredible writing-or obvious love for the Bronx. So many wonderful stories and interesting tidbits. I found myself reading and re-reading many passages to make sure I took it all in. I am going to pass on this title to my Dad. Boy, will he get a kick out of it. 5 stars all the way. Thank you Arlene Alda for writing Just Kids from the Bronx. p.s Keep 'em coming.

[I. Private · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We shall not cease from exploration, and at the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time"-- T.S. Eliot

And thankfully, the kids came back!

All of reflections found in this assembly share one common dominator: the significance of “home”. The people, institutions, buildings, events, sounds, smells from time spent in these neighborhoods produced, and continue to produce, creators, innovators and leaders whose contributions transcend time and geography. Imagine the bookshelf without Mary Higgins Clark, the cinema without Marty Bregman, Carl Reiner or Al Pacino, the Big Apple without Milton Glaser or Abe Rosenthal, the stoop without Dion, the ball field without Bobby Bonilla, the world stage without Colin Powell-- all of the teachers, poets, comics, physicists, artists, musicians doctors, lawyers, all magnetized (by both sides) by this much maligned place. And in these little windows of achievement that Arlene Alda lovingly documented, we are given insight into the countless other hard working members of this community who helped inspire those profiled, and no doubt, so many others who passed though that borough and called it home…who woulda thunk it!

An entertaining and inspiring read!

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an absolute treasure.

My mom's parents were from the Bronx and my dad's parents were from Queens. They all eventually moved out to California where I was born, but they never lost the attitude or the accents. Reading these stories, I heard their voices and saw my family reflected in these pages. I was really moved by so many of these stories and found myself crying often while reading. The most powerful lessons I took away was that teachers and parents - through unconditional support and love - have tremendous power to unlock the potential within each of us.

Alda does an amazing job differentiating every story; her writing stayed true to the promise of an oral history and I could really hear every person's unique voice in this collection. I can't wait to share this amazing book with my family and friends.

*I won an ARC of this book from Goodreads.*

[Emily Glaser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable and insightful about the local lives and history of the Bronx.

I will say that the book felt very heavily focused on talking about people born in the 1930s/1940s, and I would have liked to seen more examples of people born more recently. I think a more diverse makeup of interviewees would have improved the quality of this book and make it more relevant to today as well !

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was great listening to the many different stories about growing up in the Bronx. What I most enjoyed was the common theme seemed to be that we learned to be responsible for ourselves at an early age. It also seems a majority of them learned what they wanted to do with their life at an early age. Great reading.

[Laura O · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. Short vignettes written by some of the famous people who come from the Bronx. They tell their story of how growing up in the Bronx shaped their lives.

[Jennifer A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. It gave me more of an appreciation of the Bronx. I would recommend this book, especially if you live or you are moving to the Bronx.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bronx is a unique place in NYC that many amazing people grew up in. This book brings together their life stories to show what kinds of things each person experienced there as a kid. For anyone that grew up there the stories will bring back many many memories of certain buildings, parks, and streets where so much took place.

The reason I picked up this book was because I just love the idea of being able to grow up in a city that is so big yet so small at the same time. Many people returned to where they grew up because everything they needed was right there. It is crazy to think about how much stuff was free that helped kids find out who they wanted to be when they grew up. The Bronx zoo was free on certain days and so that is when everyone would go and because of that so many kids got to learn about animals and their eco systems they lived in. It inspired a few to go and study animals later on.

The stories that struck a cord with me were the people who talked about the teachers that went out of their way to help them in life. Today, because of the troublesome helicopter parents, teachers are not really allowed to help students today and because of that students are left to suffer in the public education system that we have today. There is one person who, because of their father's sickness and love for baseball had a teacher that took him, along with a few other kids (keep in mind all in middle school) to major baseball games. Another person talked about how this one teacher saw their potential in 6th grade and took it upon themselves to take them (literally walked them across the street to better schools) and enrolled them and because of that action, which would not be allowed today, enabled them to go on to Harvard and Harvard Business school. (What does that tell you about the rules today in schools?)

The stories are balanced to show the different kinds of talent/people that came out of the Bronx. If you want to relive your time growing up there then this is a book for you to sit down and enjoy. The many lives the Bronx touched inspired so many talented people to share their gifts with the world.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a "Bronx girl" – born and raised – who left the Bronx in 1974, the stories in this book resonated well with me in terms of childhood experiences and family cohesiveness (a common thread through most individuals' lives in the book). I marvel now at the independence we kids were given by our families to go wherever we wanted, as long as we were home by dinnertime. Although I went to Catholic schools until my family moved out, I had really regretted that I didn't insist on applying to Bronx High School of Science. At that time, girls – especially Italian-American girls – were not encouraged to strive for the sciences, although my mother was very much involved in my education, and made sure that I went to Cardinal Spellman High School (Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor graduated from Cardinal Spellman HS just before I entered my freshman year, yet she is not included, for example, in the book. My only disappointment with this book is that Arlene Alda did not (or, maybe could not) expand it to include many more famous and successful people who come from the Bronx. The only notable surprise to me is that author Mary Higgins Clark is from the Bronx.

I believe that the richness of the stories are inspiring, however, made even richer by those who grew up in the Bronx in the 20th century.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

You do not have to live in The Bronx to appreciate the oral history of the borough. Although it helps. If you live in the borough or are at least familiar with the neighborhoods it gives a more vivid picture and helps in the imaginings of these people as children and where they played. The stores they talk about, the street corners etc. It was all very vivid for me and I appreciated the detail. It was also interesting to see (and I wonder if only a Bronx native could recognize this) but the changing demographic was clearly seen in this book. The Bronx was mostly Jewish and Italian in the 1930s - 1950s, then you can see other groups emerging.

People have a misconception about The Bronx. Movies such as "Fort Apache, The Bronx" didn't help this stereotype. Although The Bronx in the 1970s was a scary place, it wasn't always and isn't now.

I was a little confused when some of the narratives said that the #6 subway train went to Brooklyn. As far as I know, and I looked around online at the history of the NYC Transit System, this train terminated (terminates) at Brooklyn Bridge - City Hall in Manhattan. But that was just a small inconsistency and it didn't distract from the great narratives.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I was expecting something else. This book is a lot (not exclusively but a lot) of superficial 1.5-2.5 page stories about a small glimpse into Bronx hardship which turned into wild success for the author. I would have liked to see a bit more diversity in the book - a LOT more African American voices would have been nice. This feels very white for the Bronx, to be perfectly frank. It also felt very homogenous class-wise. The upbringings are varied but the voices she chose are people that made it in a very particularly way. Maybe this is just the circles that Alda runs in, but I think there could have been a lot more diversity of people's current economic class. I don't know, it just felt like a bunch of well-off people talking about their hard knock upbringing for a page or so... I found it mostly (not entirely) superficial.

Side note: The vignette of Amar Ramasar basically talking about how he got into ballet because he could touch women feels very weird next to his firing for misconnect at the ballet...

Not adding this to my NYC books collection, but will put it out on my South Bronx stoop for someone else to, hopefully, enjoy.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just Kids from the the Bronx is an amazing book!!! Well researched by author Arlene Alda! This book must have taken years to put together! She interviewed many famous people from all walks of life who started out in the Bronx neighborhood. Their pride from growing up in the Bronx is very evident. I learned a lot of history about the Bronx. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys biographies. I felt blessed to have read this special account. I received this book from the Goodreads.com giveaway. Thank you so much to Arlene Alda for authoring this important book. Henry Holt and Company is the publisher.

[Rachel (find_me_lost_in_a_book) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. I loved this book. The author Arlene Alda wrote the interviews of sixty five individuals that grew up in the Bronx and became very successful people. It's a story of American opportunity and the idea of working hard and achieving greatness! I have never been to New York and have always wanted to travel there. This book sparked my interest with specific places named and described in the book. This is a great book for anyone who grew up in New York, anyone who would like to travel there, or anyone that wants to be inspired to achieve greatness!

[Nan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating collection of rememberances of successful people born/raised in the Bronx in the 20th Century. Although I was raised in the suburbs, I visited the Bronx but was unaware of it's diversity and many beautiful parks other than the Bronx Zoo & Botanical Gardens there are. It was inspiring to read how those coming from challenging upbringings can succeed.

This was a First Read selection that I will be sharing.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. Honest and often humorous accounts of growing up in The Bronx, written by a variety of people.

[Vita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This oral history of people that grew up in the Bronx is an absolute masterpiece! A beautiful tribute to the Bronx. A must read!

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very uneven groups of memoirs (mostly) about growing up in the Bronx. A childhood picture of each contributor is included.

[Barefoot Danger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but kind of odd that in a book about the Bronx, only two people affiliated with hip-hop were interviewed.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My dad grew up in the Bronx, initially on Hoe Ave then later in Grand Ave. He was a child star on vaudeville, and later in the silent movies. Played stickball on the street, and broke his leg one day when he slipped because he was wearing new leather shoes. Went to Townsend, and graduated City College at the ripe old age of 14. In 1932, when he went for his interview for Medical School, he looked so young that the dean at Long Island School of Medicine told him to "come back when you're wearing long pants." He did. He also fell in love with a girl from another country, one called "Brooklyn". He was afraid to tell his folks he was dating a girl from so far away, and when he got home late from seeing her safely home, would to tell them he'd fallen asleep on the subway, and missed is stop. Most of my memories from childhood visits to New York center on the more boisterous Brooklyn clan. My father's family was wounded, and we spent much less time there. I've been going through old papers of my dad's and wanted to find out more about his world, so picked up this book.

It's a good collection of oral histories, progressing from people born in my father's era to the 1990's. I was more drawn to the earlier ones, and wished my dad, who died in 1981, could have been around to contribute. I'd probably read anything that included excerpts from Carl Reiner, Mary Higgins Clark, Jules Feiffer, andNeil degrasse Tyson, though.


Favorite quote: This is my life. Art chooses you. You don't choose art. You become possessed. This is my commitment and I've never deviated from that. Milton Glaser in "Just Kids from the Bronx: Telling It the Way it Was, An Oral History: By Arlene Alda

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the short stories of the famous and not-so-famous people in this book. Most of the interviewees were born and grew up before my time – pre World War II, when most of the interviewees were immigrating to the United States, via New York, and some found their ways to the Bronx.

What strikes me about the interviewees throughout the book is the children’s ingenuity, street smarts and resilience. Resilience is the key point here: despite the language, cultural, racial, economic and social barriers, many of the interviewees ‘made it,’ to become leaders, innovators, thinkers and leaders on the world stage. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Valerie Simpson, Ruben Diaz, Jr., and Regis Philbin come to mind here. There is a common thread that despite the respective barriers, there is something about the Bronx that provides a special kind of resilience: you know it’s tough, but somehow, one finds one’s way through and/or around barriers. It’s also refreshing to see that despite the time span of those interviewed, many of the landmarks and streets are still there today. So, it was great to learn and enjoy the stories of the interviewees with familiar landmarks in mind.

I just wish the book could have been a bit longer, with more Bronxites. Yet, it was a great read and rekindling of memory lane, even it was before my time.

[Stefanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who's been to NYC--specifically, Manhattan and Brooklyn--nearly 30 times, I have always been intrigued by the mystical (at least to me) borough of THE Bronx. Other than having the Zoo, Botanical Garden, and, of course, Yankee Stadium, and seeing a PBS special on the fires that went on there in the late 1970s, I wanted to know more about this seemingly neglected borough of NYC. A simple search in my library's catalog brought me to check out this book. As someone who grew up in the city of Baltimore, I understood what a lot of the storytellers meant about cherishing the neighborhood you grew up and being influenced by it and never forgetting where you came from. Baltimore is very neighborhood-oriented. Alda did a great job capturing a wide range of ages of individuals who grew up in the Bronx. I also liked the mix of famous people and ordinary folk who were interviewed. I wish she would have included an interview with her husband, Alan. One criticism I have is that I realize this is an oral history and Alda wanted to maintain the integrity of the interviewees' words, but I found some of the stories just ended abruptly and didn't wrap up the story very well. This book was a great starting point in my quest to learn about the Bronx!

[Angela Reese · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this as a Goodreads Book Giveaway and thank them for the opportunity to read it.

I enjoyed reading this book from beginning to end. I am not from the Bronx but from the North End (Italian section) of Boston and many of the stories reminded me of my hometown. I enjoyed these stories so much that I am rereading the book and have recommended it to many people.

It is amazing that there are so many famous people from the Bronx! Arlene Alda has the interviews of 65 people from the Bronx. These people are very successful in various occupations tellof having met people who have given them wonderful opportunities to find their dreams.

The interviews are placed in chronological order and you can see the change in the ethical culture as time goes on. In each of these stories there exudes a sense of love of their origins and the camaraderie that they felt for their families, friends and even the block they lived on.

I definitely recommend this book.

[Maureen Sepulveda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a delightful book to read. It’s a collection of stories from many different people who grew up in the Bronx spanning several decades from the 30’s to 90’s. It was special and poignant to read this book as the Bronx is where my father and grandmother grew up and my grandma lived in Bronx her entire life. Many of the reminiscences in this book sounded like stories my father and grandmother told me. So many interesting people were profiled in this book including Regis Philbon, Al Pacino, Colin Powell, Mary Higgins Clark and Michael Kay to name a few. Plus, many other people such as teachers, lawyers, doctors, business people, writers, artists, singers and dancers. Regis Philbon even attended the same Catholic High School in the Bronx as my father, Cardinal Hayes. Regis was about 14 years older than my dad so they weren’t there at same time. Several people also graduated from Fordham University in the Bronx, my father’s alma mater.

[kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are from The Bronx you gotta love this book. I'm a Fordham Road gal myself. Who wouldn't like growing up in a neighborhood where you had the Bronx Zoo and Botanical gardens as local parks. You could hang out at the Edgar Allen Poe tiny cottage until the parky chased you out. You could play tennis at St James park. Though I personally never knew anyone who would. Who were those people? We did go to the roller rink across the street though. We walked all over and had a freedom the kids today can't even imagine.

Don't get me started on the food. It was an international smorgasbord. The best Italian food, Jewish deli, Chinese food, Greek diners, and bakeries from everywhere. And mom still had dinner on the table even if she worked all day.

Thanks Arlene for this trip down memory lane. I really enjoyed it.

[Karah · Rating 5 out of 5]

School obligations and other interests prevented me from finishing this book in a timely manner. But once I committed to the book, I became entranced by the Bronx. I thought the Bronx existed as a crime-ridden cesspool of New York. ( There is some type of crime in every neighborhood.) I am grateful to know that so many brilliant minds come from the Bronx. I didn't know Al Pacino was born in the Bronx. ( I had imagined that he was a New Yorker, though.)The lesson of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TED talk " The Danger of One Story" comes manifested through this book. I had looked at the Bronx through narrow eyes. Now, it looks thrilling and fascinating. It must be an engaging place to live. None of the participants expressed shame in their origins at any point in their lives. More of a curiosity that their wealthier peers often lacked emotional support and affection.

Read this book.

[Mary-Catherine Connolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this collection of interviews of well-known people who spent their childhoods in The Bronx. Being a Kid from The Bronx myself, I identified with many of their observations and memories and reading them caused me to reflect on my own Bronx memories. Additionally, many people tend to identify The Bronx with movies that show it in a negative way, such as Fort Apache and A Bronx Tale, but this collection helped put it in a much more positive light. Also, an overwhelming majority of the people interviewed said how family and community and growing up in The Bronx shaped who they were and who they became. You can take the person out of The Bronx, but you'll never take The Bronx out of the person. And I wholeheartedly agree.

[Thom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was light reading, like a smorgasbord biography. All tied to childhoods in The Bronx. More than just geographical history, it's telling about early 20th century history, how the era shaped each person. Some author is quoted as proclaiming there are only three places in the world prefaced with 'The' - The Hague, The Vatican and The Bronx, but of course there is The Netherlands and The Ohio State University and others as well. We just learned we can cross The Ukraine off the list as a Soviet era anachronism. https://gothamist.com/miscellaneous/t....
I have a penchant for true stories and this book is nothing but.

[Oliviaolivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free in a Goodreads giveaway. Overall I really enjoyed this anthology of personal stories about the Bronx. It shows a very diverse array of people; in family situations, ethnicities , time periods, and career paths. I did feel like some of the stories rambled off topic or just were generally too long and could have been edited better. That being said I would totally recommend this book if you enjoy reading about different peoples childhoods or of course about the Bronx.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I loved getting a glimpse of the lives of people who grew up in the Bronx and the simple joys, funny stories and difficulties they remembered. When an apartment or other specific location was mentioned, I'd look it up on Google maps/images so I could better understand the environment where someone lived or worked. I learned so much about the subjects and this book gave me a sense of how the Bronx shaped the lives of these individuals through the decades. Thank you, Ms. Alda, for pursuing your idea of writing this book which began at that party on Long Island.