Just Kids from the Bronx: Telling It the Way It Was: An Oral History

Written by Arlene Alda

Narrated by Alan Alda

"The numerous voices presenting these oral histories are flowing, velvety, glib, humorous, and always passionate...This is an informative and heartwarming retrospective of life in the Bronx, in addition to an enlightening look at the changes in our society and culture." — Publishers Weekly, starred review

A touching and provocative collection of autobiographical anecdotes that evoke the history of one of America's most influential boroughs--the Bronx--through some of its many success stories

The vivid oral histories in Arlene Alda's Just Kids from the Bronx reveal what it was like to grow up in the place that bred the influencers in just about every field of endeavor today. The Bronx is where Michael Kay, the New York Yankees' play-by-play broadcaster, first experienced baseball, where J. Crew's Millard (Mickey) Drexler got his street smarts and his first jobs, where Neil deGrasse Tyson and Dava Sobel were urged to pursue science and where music-making inspired hip hop's Grandmaster Melle Mel to change the world of music forever.
The parks, the pick-up games, the tough and tender mothers, the politics, the gangs, the food--for people who grew up in the Bronx, childhood recollections are fresh. Arlene Alda's own Bronx memories were a jumping-off point from which to reminisce with a nun, a police officer, an urban planner, and with Al Pacino, Mary Higgins Clark, Carl Reiner, Colin Powell, Maira Kalman, Bobby Bonilla, and many other leading artists, athletes, scientists and entrepreneurs--experiences spanning six decades of Bronx living. Alda then arranged these pieces of the past, the mornings on the Grand Concourse and afternoons in the halls of Bronx Science, into one great collective story, a film-like portrait of the Bronx from the early twentieth century until today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio
• Release date: Mar 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781427262370

Arlene Alda

Arlene Alda graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Hunter College, received a Fulbright Scholarship, and realized her dream of becoming a professional clarinetist, playing in the Houston Symphony under the baton of Leopold Stokowski. She switched careers when her children were young and became an award-winning photographer and author who has written nineteen books, including Just Kids from the Bronx. She is the mother of three daughters and the grandmother of eight. She and her husband, actor Alan Alda, live in New York City and Long Island.

Reviews for Just Kids from the Bronx

[alanab_26 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed reading all the vignettes from all the people who grew up in the Bronx or lived there for a period of time. I was glad that the stories were all arranged based on when the people were born so that the reader has a clear picture about how the Bronx changed over time. The stories were well-written and varied.

[christina_e_mitchell · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I bought this book because Arlene and Alan Alda were in my neighborhood as part of an annual Jewish book festival. In full disclosure, I have been deeply in love with Alan Alda since I was seven years old. So, there's was no doubt when I heard the Alda's were scheduled to speak that I wouldn't immediately buy my ticket and show up at the venue two hours early so I could get a front row seat.

What an evening!

Let me begin by reiterating that I continue to be deeply in love with Mr. Alda. Truly. People do not understand my attraction, but they do not have to. What I know is that while I was growing up there was this sort of goofy smart-ass on M*A*S*H (who's character morphed from the sexist Hawkeye of the book and movie to the enlightened, caring, politically engaged, and authentic character I enjoyed so much), who was in the news publicly advocating for the passage of something called the ERA that he claimed was needed for the women of the United States; who produced and directed a great movie, The Four Seasons, starring Carol Burnett and Rita Moreno among other talented actors, about middle-age and long-time friendships; and who had this visibly deep, passionate love of learning as host for Scientific America. Never did I see him or read about him being arrogant or rude, but rather he was always engaged, motivated, and kind. AND, he has remained in love and married to the same woman for over 50 years having met Arlene when they were both in their early 20s. That is the kind of man for me. I've read his books and seen most, if not all, of his movies. Nearly in his 80s, he remains to me one of the sexiest men alive.

So, take that Mrs. Kersh! (my junior high English-Lit teacher who would use up nearly whole class periods in a verbal scourge of criticism against Mr. Alda)! I stick my tongue out at you!

I am thrilled I finally got the opportunity to see Mr. Alda and his brilliantly talented wife, Arlene Alda, in person. Mrs. Alda is an accomplished musician, educator, and now, author. The book does not do justice to the delight she has in this collection of stories. To hear her speak about her interviews with these kids from the Bronx, you knew she had a sincere affinity for the tales they shared with her. All the stories in the book are the exact words of the interviewees. Mrs. Alda did the editing to form the coherent, lively, memorable vignettes. This project took her four years. The book begins with those of her generation extending to the generation of the 21st century. You get to hear the evolution of the Bronx from the rather segregated hamlets inhabited by the immigrants of the 1940s and 1950s working toward the American Dream, to the crumbling and burning realities of the 1970s, to the up-and-coming borough it is today. She did a beautiful job.

However, I am going to recommend that if you have the opportunity, the best way to experience the book is in a live session with Mrs. Alda. The audio book may (I hope) give you a similar experience. Mrs. Alda as a tempo to the way she tells these stories about her beloved Bronx. She continues the same delight in reiteration of the book's tales you've no doubt she had the first time hearing the lives and anecdotes of the various individuals included in her volume (who I'm confident are now her friends). If you get lucky enough to see Mrs. Alda being interviewed about her book by her husband, all the better. Mr. Alda is sincerely interested in his wife's work and questions her authentically. At the event I attended, the Alda's were asked how they met. I'll let you ask them for yourselves (you'll love the story, trust me); however, they concluded their story saying, "And, a great friendship was born. We were inseparable." That friendship is still there − heartfelt and honest. They make a wonderful team.

[bookczuk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My dad grew up in the Bronx, initially on Hoe Ave then later in Grand Ave. He was a child star on vaudeville, and later in the silent movies. Played stickball on the street, and broke his leg one day when he slipped because he was wearing new leather shoes. Went to Townsend, and graduated City College at the ripe old age of 14. In 1932, when he went for his interview for Medical School, he looked so young that the dean at Long Island School of Medicine told him to "come back when you're wearing long pants." He did. He also fell in love with a girl from another country, one called "Brooklyn". He was afraid to tell his folks he was dating a girl from so far away, and when he got home late from seeing her safely home, would to tell them he'd fallen asleep on the subway, and missed is stop. Most of my memories from childhood visits to New York center on the more boisterous Brooklyn clan. My father's family was wounded, and we spent much less time there. I've been going through old papers of my dad's and wanted to find out more about his world, so picked up this book.It's a good collection of oral histories, progressing from people born in my father's era to the 1990's. I was more drawn to the earlier ones, and wished my dad, who died in 1981, could have been around to contribute. I'd probably read anything that included excerpts from Carl Reiner, Mary Higgins Clark, Jules Feiffer, andNeil degrasse Tyson, though.Favorite quote: This is my life. Art chooses you. You don't choose art. You become possessed. This is my commitment and I've never deviated from that. Milton Glaser in "Just Kids from the Bronx: Telling It the Way it Was, An Oral History: By Arlene Alda

[sdmtngirl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love the Early Reviewers program! Being a California girl I really enjoyed the stories and have already passed it forward to a friend of mine from there. Definitely worth the time!

[sdunford_6 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am something of a rarity in the Bronx. I'm the 4th generation of my family to live here. I raised my kids here, and still live here. And as a Community Organizer, I'm proud to have been part of the Bronx' rebirth. I love the place. So I was anxious to get my hands on Just Kids from the Bronx. Happily, it did not disappoint. The stories told are like those told by my mom, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Like the time my uncle fell through the ice while skating on the Bronx River. A cousin pulled him out and flagged down a stranger who put him in his car and drove him home. The sense of growing up in a richly diverse community where people took care of each others, is very much what I've known and lived, and its such an antidote to what people usually hear about the Bronx. Thank you, Arlene Alda for telling the truth. I hope everyone reads this.

[pmaurer_11 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

As someone NOT from the Bronx, I found this book an interesting description of a part of the country totally different from my upbringing. I was grateful that the book had been put in a chronological order, so I could understand how the culture changed over time. Some of the people didn't interest me, so I did a lot of dipping in and out of the book over time. I feel the greatest appeal would be to folks that actually grew up in the area - not an outsider.

[jeanie1_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a well written book of stories of yesteryear. I enjoyed the stories. I think someone who was from the Bronx and is in show business would appreciate the stories.

[aslan7_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Anyone who grew up around New York should read this book. It is an amazing collection of very short reminiscences that together paint a picture of a place that has shaped lives for decades. I laughed so hard at the story of the boy jumping in dollar bills in imitation of Scrooge McDuck, and of the boy who was dining with his date's family and took out a pack of condoms thinking it was a pack of matches. Two things became evident as I read these stories. One was the way children's lives were different in the 1930's and the 1980's. The other was the way the very landscape changed. No more talk about the empty lot next door. No more the sense the four square blocks constituted the world.This is a terrific book for the individual stories but also for the sociological picture it paints.Thank you Arlene Alda for a very good, very insightful read.

[jrbeach · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Caveat – I was born in the Bronx, and went to college there. I enjoyed much of this book, but I believe it will have limited appeal. I'm sure even ardent Bronx-ites will give it a mixed review. Many of the essays had little or no obvious connection to the Bronx, especially the one by "anonymous" which was about incest. I particularly enjoyed the older contributions, probably because I'm over 60 myself. I got a huge kick immediately from the mention on the first page of the first essay of Decatur Avenue, which was a family address for nearly 40 years. But unless the reader has some connection with the Bronx (and all the various Bronx neighborhoods seemed to be well represented), the essays could easily be set in the ethnic enclaves of any US city. Also, because these are "oral histories", the quality of the writing varies widely. Literature it aint. When I was through with the book I passed it on to my cousin, who is over 70. She agreed with my assessment of the book.

[chrisac_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I am originally from the Bronx, although my family moved to New Jersey when I was a toddler.I loved this book. The stories Arlene Alda included remind me of the Bronx I knew as a child, when we had relatives living there. I was brought back to my childhood when we would often visit my grandparents,sometimes spend the weekend, and we would visit the Bronx Zoo, the Bronx Botanical Garden, and go for walks on Pelham Parkway. When we visited relatives in the Woodlawn section, we played in Van Cortlandt Park.As I read this book, I was able to experience the Bronx that my parents grew up in - my dad is a graduate of the famous Bronx High School of Science, as prestigious today as it was in the 1940s when he was a student there. It's also the story of the Bronx itself in the 20th Century; and how the original Irish / Italian / Jewish / European communities worked together, and how the Bronx has evolved into the vibrant, multicultural, diverse borough of New York that it is today.If you are familiar with the Bronx - in an way - via work, family, background, whatever - you will love this book.

[ileighprivate · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"We shall not cease from exploration, and at the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time"-- T.S. EliotAnd thankfully, the kids came back!All of reflections found in this assembly share one common dominator: the significance of “home”. The people, institutions, buildings, events, sounds, smells from time spent in these neighborhoods produced, and continue to produce, creators, innovators and leaders whose contributions transcend time and geography. Imagine the bookshelf without Mary Higgins Clark, the cinema without Marty Bregman, Carl Reiner or Al Pacino, the Big Apple without Milton Glaser or Abe Rosenthal, the stoop without Dion, the ball field without Bobby Bonilla, the world stage without Colin Powell-- all of the teachers, poets, comics, physicists, artists, musicians doctors, lawyers, all magnetized (by both sides) by this much maligned place. And in these little windows of achievement that Arlene Alda lovingly documented, we are given insight into the countless other hard working members of this community who helped inspire those profiled, and no doubt, so many others who passed though that borough and called it home…who woulda thunk it!An entertaining and inspiring read!

[burnit99 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A collection of oral histories, interviews with people who lived in the Bronx as children, very much in the style of Studs Terkel. The histories are arranged chronologically, with the earliest birthdate being 1922, the most recent 1991. It's fascinating to see the subtle shift in the racial makeup and fortunes of the Bronx as the years progress. Most of the interviewees (but not all) seem to be people who prevailed against a less than advantaged start in life and became successes in their fields. A number of those interviewed are well-known: Bobby Bonilla, Mary Higgins Clark, Avery Corman, Dion, Jules Feiffer, Robert Klein, Al Pacino, Regis Philbin, Colin Powell, Carl Reiner, Abe Rosenthal, George Shapiro,and Neil deGrasse Tyson. Not that it's relevant here, but the author is the wife of Alan Alda.

[laffrey_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Bronx. Just the name conjures memories, even for those who grew up far away from the storied, scary place. Long before I ever set foot in New York, I knew that “...The Bronx is up and the Battery’s down.” I knew it was a dangerous place, thanks to Hollywood and ABC Sports. It was the epitome of the wrong side of the tracks. Many years later, I discovered the beauty of Wave Hill and the New York Botanical Garden, the history of Gun Hill Road, the Poe Cottage, the Grand Concourse, the hills, valleys and beaches that make up the geography of the Bronx and the truth about New York City as a whole: despite being a “big city” it’s really just a collection of neighborhoods that function as small towns. This is what Arlene Alda sets out to show the reader in Just Kids from the Bronx. Alda presents excerpts from interviews of over 60 people, famous and not-so-famous, who grew up in the Bronx. The book is divided into three sections: Kids born before World War II, those born during or shortly after the war (the 40s) and those born after 1950 (the youngest entrant, born in 1991). Subjects talk about the way things were: Games they played, their friends, the schools (good and bad). Patterns quickly emerge, especially in the first section, where many of the subjects are the children of European immigrants and live the classic immigrant experience, and the last, where we meet more recent immigrants and natives who survived “the Bronx is burning” era.As a whole, the book presents an intriguing oral history of a place many know of, but few, outside its neighborhoods, know. The first two sections tend to get repetitive (“ah the good old days, yes, we were poor, but we had all we needed), but the final section shines. It not only tells a less familiar story, but, perhaps, exposes how the country as a whole has changed. Before the 70s, a “poor” family still had some options. Those options seem to have disappeared, making the success stories in the last third of the book seem like the exception rather than the rule.

[etxgardener · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Why is anyone publishing this book? Unless you are from the Bronx or inordinately interested in New York City, there isn't much here for the ordinary reader. It was just one reminiscent (often repetitive) after another from people who grew up in the borough & became successful.

[esta1923 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Just Kids from the Bronx" is a lovely/loving grab-bag of memories. Arlene Alda's charming foreword sets the stage for her sixty-three contributors.(There's a youthful picture of each one.) This neighborhood, predominately Jewish, Italian and Irish in the earlier part of the 20th century, currently houses Hispanics and African Americans. All are represented.Well-known folks, Leon Fleisher, Mary Higgins Clark, Jules Feiffer, Regis Philbin, Colin Powell, Al Pacino, Daniel Libeskind, Avery Corman, tell of their childhood. Their memories and those of the other contributors take readers on a tour though time and place.Crowded dwellings, busy streets, kids and grown-ups, interactions and snapping turtles! Start at the beginning and read it all. Arlene Alda's biographical notes (pp.273-292) which reinforce and sometimes surprise are not to be missed.

[rentie_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

it is a nice quicj read. most of the stories leave you wanting moe, and if you do not know the bronx well (i don't) you can get lost. but overall, a good read

[maya47bob46 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The thing I loved most was the variety of stories. Each person was unique, but the common thread was growing up in a neighborhood in the Bronx. (As in most cities, the larger is divided into smaller areas.) When one thinks about the stories as a whole, one realizes for all there was an Italian section, a Jewish one, later a Spanish one, the neighborhoods all abutted so people grew up with a mix of cultures and even languages. While a number of interviewees spoke of this, I think Colin Powell said it the best. "There was Teitelbaum's drugstore. My sister was best friends with their daughters. Across the street was Kaiserman's bakery. Then on 163rd street there was a tailor and dry cleaners. There was thePuerto Rican bodega, the Chinese laundry, a kosher chicken market, and then there were the candy stores, also usually owned by European Jews." What a rich mix. There was also an income mix with both middle class and poor families.This is not a history of the Bronx. It rarely touches on the problems of poverty, crime and drugs. The people in the book, even the younger one, overcame the problems in their neighborhoods to become successful. They were lucky to have some adult support: parents, grandparents, a teacher, priest or minister, or coach. These are the stories of people who, for the most part, loved the Bronx and were able to use its advantages to help them be successful.This is a book to pick through and read at leisure one small memory at a time. In fact, I plan to go back and re-read it, one story a day.