Growing up in the area in the early Forties, life was as it is for most teenagers, different. Author Gerald Sweeney will be talking about growing up in Great Neck and Manhasset in the 1940s on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at the Great Neck Library.
The difference was that, from time to time, older brothers’ friends were killed or wounded in combat. Japanese friends were taken away into confinement for the duration of the war.
Many had parents who had escaped from Germany and Eastern Europe and had lost family there. Homes in many neighborhoods had Gold Stars in their front windows.
Memorial Day services were grim, especially in ’44 and ’45, when new tablets listing the combat dead were displayed. The light air balloons went up around the Sperry plant in Lake Success to ward off strafing attacks
Social lives were circumscribed largely by the Great Neck Ice Skating Rink and the two movie houses – the Playhouse and the Squire that showed Paramount movies. Many rode the LIRR into Broadway to see the Big Bands perform. The fact of the matter was – we had a great time growing up here.
Gerald F. Sweeney, a native of the Midwest and novel series author, spent most of his life living on Long Island. An army veteran, his business life was consumed by commuting to Manhattan’s madcap magazine world where he overworked in various capacities.
The discussion will begin at 2 p.m. in the Community Room of the Main Library, 159 Bayview Ave.
