SKETCHES OF A SMALL TOWN by Clifton K. Meador, MD.

                    SKETCHES OF A SMALL TOWN

                      Circa 1940

                      A Memoir

                      by

                   CLIFTON K. MEADOR, MD

                        Beth Stein (Editor), Mark Cowden (Illustrations)

• Paperback: 188 pages
• Publisher: 
•  CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 
• 1 edition (June 21, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 149917439X
• ISBN-13: 978-1499174397

SUMMARY

For a boy coming of age during the 1930s and ’40s, Greenville, Alabama, a small cotton-farming town in the Deep South, was a wonderfully rich environment. Greenville may have been small, but for author Clifton K. Meador, MD, life growing up there was anything but dull. In his memoir Sketches of a Small Town…circa 1940, Meador lovingly retells the stories that formed his values and shaped his life. For young Clifton and his friends, there’s plenty of trouble to stir up, ranging from a field fire, to buzzard hunting, to fights between the “country boys” and the “city boys,” and, of course, girls. There are also poignant moments, such as the loss of his best friend because of the impenetrable wall of segregation. And there are quirky characters—the town’s sole, somewhat frightening taxi driver; the intriguing, cross-dressing homosexual; and the eccentric agronomy professor turned failed farmer. Sketches of a Small Town…circa 1940 not only tells one man’s story, but also beautifully captures the remarkable people, places, and events that characterized a unique lifestyle in a bygone era. “What we have here is a poignant, very funny, yet respectful look back at small-town life and characters in the Deep South in the ’30s and ’40s, pre-prosperity, before it was a recognized condition. Meador is a Mark Twain without the river and a Garrison Keillor without the snow... and Baptists instead of Lutherans. I loved this book.” —Harold Chambliss - freelance writer, humorist, and former magazine publisher

AUTHOR

Clifton K. Meador, MD, graduated from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1955 with honors. After serving two years in the US Army Medical Corps, he completed his medical training and returned to his birthplace of Selma, Alabama, to practice medicine. He subsequently served as the director of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Research Center at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, then dean of the university’s school of medicine, then a professor of medicine at Vanderbilt and a chief medical officer of Saint Thomas Hospital. Having retired in 2012, he is now a full-time writer. Meador has published extensively in the medical literature and authored a number of satirical articles on the excesses of medical practice. He has also authored thirteen other books, including his best selling Fascinomas: Fascinating Medical Mysteries and True Medical Detective Stories. Sketches of a Small Town is his 14th book. Sketches of a Small Town…circa 1940, is a memoir of his life growing up in a small cotton town in the Deep South during the 1930s and ’40s.

REVIEW

Dr. Meador was a boy growing up in the 1930's and '40s.  He has written a detailed memoir of his coming of age while growing up in the Deep South, Greenville, Alabama.  This was a small farming town that most made their living off of cotton.  The town was a small town but was wealthy in many ways.  Dr Meador tenderly tells the stories that as he was growing up, formed who he was and who he is now.  As I read this, I thought, what a wonderful place and way to grow up.  So different from many of us today.  So many of us didn't grow up in an environment that stories were passed down from generation to generation.  Sometimes so much is hidden and secretive.  That's a hard way to grow up.  It seems to affect a person's entire life.  I loved the way the author told of  his formation of values and how his life was full of love.

Of course, life can't all be wonderful.  Dr. Meador told how his friends  got into a lot of trouble, fires, hunting buzzards and fights between Those good ole country boys and those uppity city boys.  Of course the author didn't leave out the girls.  He told of the terrible loss of his best friend because of the minds of those who believed in segregation.  A wall that seemed unable to knock down.   The author also told of the  odd ones in the town.  A taxi driver that was a little scary, and others.  I don't want to give it all away.  This book not only tells of the coming of age of one man in a small town but the author also tells dearingly of the other characters and places that lets the reader see a lifestyle which we don't see much any more.  It is really an era to remember and remembering is by listening to the wonderful stories as our ancestors pass down to their children and their children on.

If you are interested in looking back on small towns, those people who grew up there, a little humor and following one man's life as he gives us SKETCHES OF A SMALL TOWN.

I found this to be an endearing book written with descriptions that make you wish you had grown up like that. One of those was  fast cars, fried chicken and friendships. In a way it is sad to think so many didn't have that wonderful life and in a way happy, for those that can share their life with others, us the readers.

I loved the cover.  You could see and feel the small town.  Wonderful.

I was given a complimentary copy of SKETCHES OF A SMALL TOWN from the author, Clifton K. Meador, MD for my view of the book.  No other compensation took place.

I would give this book 5 STARS.

LINKS

http://bemiown.blogspot.com

bemiown@yahoo.com

www.cliftonkmeador.com

http://www.amazon.com/author/cliftonkmeador 
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1032943409 
http://www.amazon.com/review/R1C22XKJQOS8H5/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=149917439X