Overview

Chased by the Memory is a story about the ongoing search for family and love, and the inner arguments about the human desire to connect to something, even to the land. It is an investigation of the ethical and physical lessons that a person can learn by paying attention to his or her childhood. The book is an attempt to rekindle the spark of being mindful of place as we struggle to find and build our identity. Much of the concern about different ethnic, class, and cultural groups can only be understood through understanding place. In this sense, place is more important than location.

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9781595985408

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It's just the notion that the hungry soul sees everything as sweet. Michael lovingly shares his own bitter and sweet story of American life, that of a typical yet (as we know) always unique second-generation immigrant. Uprooted from boyhood poverty in Chicago, a thirteen-year-old is replanted in rural Wisconsin, struggling then blossoming in this new place, making it his own. From the ballfields of Chicago to the cornfields of Shawano County, Michael explores his own sense of place--with insights for all. Dairy farming in the 1950s teaches him to view the immemorial patterns of working with the land as laying the groundwork for attitudes and values far beyond the acreage being plowed. As a newcomer attending high school in a small town, he learns of discrimination as well as the value of school as a place of learning. As a raw but talented athlete, he finds the shared duty of team sports as vital preparation for life as a citizen of a community--and of this nation. An educator internationally known for his work in ethics, democratic institutions, and citizenship education, Dr. Hartoonian takes us back to a time when high school and school sports were the center of a community, and teaches us that the telling of stories is the means by which humans become humans. His is a story you'll want to savor. --Mark H. Bockenhauer, PhD, Professor of Geography, Coordinator, Wisconsin Geographic Alliance, St. Norbert College ============ In Chased by the Memory, we meet Michael and experience the fun and challenges of his high school years, while he helps his family struggling on a small dairy farm in northern Wisconsin. The narrative is a carefully crafted work that connects the events and anxieties of adolescents to the ongoing search for identity. It is not pretentious. [This book] simply blends history and personal philosophy with conflicting belief systems that seem to bless all of us. I recommend this work to all who would aspire for goodness. --Marv Klein, PhD, Professor and Dean, Emeritus, Woodring College of Education, Western Washington University

"""It's just the notion that the hungry soul sees everything as sweet."" Michael lovingly shares his own bitter and sweet story of American life, that of a typical yet (as we know) always unique second-generation immigrant. Uprooted from boyhood poverty in Chicago, a thirteen-year-old is replanted in rural Wisconsin, struggling then blossoming in this new place, making it his own. From the ballfields of Chicago to the cornfields of Shawano County, Michael explores his own sense of place--with insights for all. Dairy farming in the 1950s teaches him to view the immemorial patterns of working with the land as ""laying the groundwork for attitudes and values far beyond the acreage being plowed."" As a newcomer attending high school in a small town, he learns of discrimination as well as the value of school as a place of learning. As a raw but talented athlete, he finds the ""shared duty"" of team sports as vital preparation for life as a citizen of a community--and of this nation. An educator internationally known for his work in ethics, democratic institutions, and citizenship education, Dr. Hartoonian takes us back to a time when high school and school sports were the center of a community, and teaches us that the telling of stories is the ""means by which humans become humans."" His is a story you'll want to savor. --Mark H. Bockenhauer, PhD, Professor of Geography, Coordinator, Wisconsin Geographic Alliance, St. Norbert College ============ In Chased by the Memory, we meet Michael and experience the fun and challenges of his high school years, while he helps his family struggling on a small dairy farm in northern Wisconsin. The narrative is a carefully crafted work that connects the events and anxieties of adolescents to the ongoing search for identity. It is not pretentious. [This book] simply blends history and personal philosophy with conflicting belief systems that seem to bless all of us. I recommend this work to all who would aspire for goodness. --Marv Klein, PhD, Professor and Dean, Emeritus, Woodring College of Education, Western Washington University"

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