Savin Hill

Book excerpt: Edward McKenney looks back to another era with entertaining stories from Savin Hill, an Irish Catholic neighborhood, in this entertaining and heartfelt memoir highlighting the period from 1969 to 1979. Edward’s father almost became a priest, but then he met an attractive strawberry blonde who became his wife and mother to their children. As one of nine siblings, Edward stood out with his red hair, an enormous gap between his front teeth and horned-rim eyeglasses. He relives the humorous and serious sides of receiving a Catholic school education during the seventies. Bullies, gangsters, and psychopathic nuns crossed the paths of the McKenney children, and all the while, their parents tried to shield them from negative influences with Catholic moral teachings. If you drove a Big Wheel, ate Mallo Cups, or survived an education at the hands of the Sisters of Perpetual Misery, you’ll enjoy these tales filled with comedy, travails, accomplishments, and tragedy.