Looking back on the childhoods of his son and daughter, Larry Kerpelman is struck by the differences in their upbringing compared with his own.
His first-generation Russian immigrant family “kind of struggled along’’ in a red brick row house in Baltimore. Conversely, his children enjoyed an upper middle-class childhood in Acton, where he and his wife, Joanie, have lived since 1975.
“I took all the vignettes, memories, and photographs collected over the years,’’ said Kerpelman, an author with a doctorate in clinical psychology whose career has included research, teaching, and consulting in human behavior and public policy. “In bits and pieces, it came together as a book.’’
His newly published memoir, “Concrete Steps: Coming of Age in a Once-Big City,’’ chronicles Kerpelman’s boyhood adventures in the 1940s and ’50s: walking to school, games played on the streets and sidewalks, sleeping in the park to beat Baltimore’s nighttime heat and humidity, learning about the opposite sex, interacting with people of different backgrounds and races, and skipping grades, which led to his enrollment at Johns Hopkins University at age 15.
While the principal narrative arc of the coming-of-age story is Kerpelman’s determination to set and achieve his own goals, the books also describes the grim realities of urban life in mid-20th century America. Issues include his family’s struggles to make a living, deal with anti-Semitism, cope with World War II, and confront social change. The book ends with Kerpelman’s departure for graduate school at the University of Rochester at age 19 in 1958.
“With concerns about immigration, racial and ethnic tensions, and how best to raise and educate children so much in the news these days, I think many will want to read this book,’’ Kerpelman said. “It will stir up thoughts of times past and provide inspiration for addressing challenges of times present.’’
Kerpelman will read from “Concrete Steps’’ on Oct. 22 at 10:30 a.m. at the Randall Library in Stow, and he will participate in the Concord Festival of Authors program on Oct. 26 at 7:30 p.m. at Kerem Shalom in Concord.
The book is available from Amazon for $15.99. For more information, visit lckerpelman.com.
Cindy Cantrell may be reached at cindycantrell20@gmail. com.
