Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Walking Broad: Looking for the Heart of Brotherly Love
Walking Broad: Looking for the Heart of Brotherly Love
Walking Broad: Looking for the Heart of Brotherly Love
Ebook303 pages4 hours

Walking Broad: Looking for the Heart of Brotherly Love

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

Wedged between the hustle of New York and the grandeur of Washington, D.C., Philadelphia is America's smallest big city, America's biggest small city, and America's most American city. It is also a city in flux. Bruce Buschel is a native Philadelphian who revisits his hometown and, in doing so, revisits his personal history and the city's complex identity.

Buschel was born on Broad Street, his father died on Broad Street; he flunked out of college, sold cameras, and purchased drugs on Broad Street; he wrote for a newspaper on Broad Street, touched JFK's left hand on Broad Street, and met his second wife when she worked on Broad Street.

On his thirteen-mile walk down the boulevard, Buschel talks to everyone from the old Italian tailor down the corner from the Chinese Mennonite pastor to the Jewish funeral home director across the street from Bilal, the Muslim restaurateur. On Broad Street, he finds livestock just a few steps from Joe Frazier's gym. The newly dubbed "Gayborhood" is just a stone's throw from the home of the heartbreaking Eagles. A world-class ballet rehearses at the Rock School while outcast rockers practice at the Paul Green School. The gas station attendant on Broad Street may be a recent immigrant, but he has already adopted the brusque manners and terse responses of a fourth-generation Philadelphian. Naturally, William Penn oversees the whole insecure, glorious mess from his perch atop City Hall.

After 9/11, Americans were drawn to Philly's authenticity and history. After decades of decay, something positive is happening, and dyspeptic Philadelphians are trying to adjust.

A lot has changed since Buschel grew up there, but he hasn't managed to shake the attitudes instilled in childhood -- mere mention of the '64 Phillies (and one of the greatest collapses in baseball history) still stings. He has retained his irreverent sense of humor, his distrust of authority, his ambivalence about New York, his disdain for New Jersey, and, above all, his sense of loyalty -- if not outright love -- for his native city.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 1, 2007
ISBN9781416546214
Walking Broad: Looking for the Heart of Brotherly Love
Author

Bruce Buschel

Bruce Buschel worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia magazine before writing for The New York Times Magazine, GQ, Rolling Stone, Premiere, and Sport magazine. He has won an ASCAP Award for his articles about music, has been anthologized in the Best American Sports Writing series, and cocreated the five-time Obie-winning musical Eli's Comin', based on the songs of Laura Nyro. He has also produced and directed a series of jazz films, Live at the Village Vanguard, and Grover Washington Jr. in Concert. Buschel has one wife, two sons, a dog named Lulu, and a cat named E. D.

Related to Walking Broad

Related ebooks

Historical Biographies For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Walking Broad

Rating: 3.3333333333333335 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

6 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Walking Broad - Bruce Buschel

    .abook_preview_excerpt.html|ےȕDϴ=BV!i$$ DBHXԓ?b^YkL<p@0/;^{Kݟ|!v'#˳?ݿ>y ~oW^|;nճ[Mc'˱ɫӞ:UqG뚯^9flc]趩~8q۴׸^Ɓ!wݪeZWяE:wO&WözyF=H*n㪺6[]{\öC) $6VM6Ѕq8Nէ覆>V|EW߽{Qq׭oZ]UfJ؆kIXP;SRj]va_Mރm @8N&hUp>bl1wfű+y`# >bkaYU̇iRbWw "car2gLh0фv0ĸ&vY;n7z6JS;W5!什١_FH%p`88,u(cTѩ~q_Czye_!; P,A׭.qՄձC˸Kfۍ& H{Of xqb]<4drG}K{>Mn<' CU^7&$࿇жgb"ژb;Vph&,m ]]mKAPCI2V~\\aP,%( T4`N}dR]!~p۽CW#օɤ9lS ?|xSwC ,b7ڬl 0q:|=OqWGO=s6~=Kl :z W9 S! + `5nxfIۗRHOd0m]` o/wyi SϿY@0ˇm<&;5LpRO_u|^Le6q4&<ʯs(q5D| r~wz=q25ěQN ^s_zG:Zo}o|k8'r}]+v3 u'5|m;G2as hb4{_J>#ُt[ص͐kGbtOxNsYb<}ర%ЅE)kB;z7QZ> "M[7Y `TԆ5^gw4^ ZLmhC;zO[C4GVH+S:vPE'na4:=^Sݍftxz3}Mp*"Zd X&QaejjJ8ϴD𨽙>@*yk S\-9N =,حyԽܲ9"M5 D?M~Na>nY^g=giAKǏe8M}OOqUswzЇ0>mv Ib*h[I`Hp rch)e }Bh4:z/YO=OiJ!Ozxٍ͎; [橍"ggvC/ZF5Xd6`-uxC h[| &~ ̲wIG̢-p5ŸW`$ ݭk'F&`vP[:t7!;"F3׃@'K&spƬRLnnN `RsۋAw iFko\8 C鉊V)xtZk-1~/@^aFǍe_Mf_ɴň{95~E:Z0:$ hO7ZxY/+*"iz7hv=Iž[n4(ipV ST\HEZf"k*^8;$u+ IK{,rtb\,T'͇S \AtىP|3aÑ]Ob TթSL v}`k@,;Vv|9c.zG$laG62Nfp~0 +;C#Uac,[Ȉ@TPG1ʐJ:b8C]G쾯_Uf {0أZfItF ^S}z`:Z|a g1+or:#p7 C1j]HtazJeq{Xw@}^1I8=pp IKeAGB|hl7r@y_ri!:ar`]vrv'"ZXeF'炪h/ەOw.  3pܐ(*'=1^^xzV 2T!?n;ƯJPӊ.>k 墧Q-zx.1ĭ[XQΥ(`)Ffi cv Ԯ'z==%#e̅w7YaEQ:1< kϾKV\#ǷvLn6ܻ{YԁR$;)5q~ieY6) L(pbU0% Q+8.,uSj N8:&'&ۜmC}'pMèMGC'_[8%?=39?g~cDerϘ]ߐ!ƻRۣa kqZLr:Y5(%iB>p& )DC7cbz8>2,PTcڕt3MRgkM.(j#Q2yQ8W i4`.呮XKc7A/ mS:H>äGn, rvtp(5 S4g+FMc?ek@Q`9#ǀ@Q3Εo[hTnk4aiX1tI~bl9Uńr`ƍr^WՏ ; gH6ŧX/g٠/ JKl&<[H6SWKfQ8)g~ee'DT|X17cE?W%!U;-KQzS̜ճ7W_'Ĉt,`$3[?|IQٻfF7<)l`X, e7Bbٳr1 f2O_+JM܌0 `*3=$DL\ӛ?$_{5D)mvsR' Lkx+Ϭw? 0GDu( dM +|zH(aiŊ=Gu^~|Howنp#F.2]$T6cSL~RwsvXO. ?:z` ߻Mmvy/d5c &OW!K͢Hl}Dh@Y'Cfz+8ʀ-7ŗbgRt 'BQ-+Is&zyaroa '#_ T m V*Ѭ׾vI7ydv<0dzOm5,ht,bbB@][Q&a̙2;F:3p:mk{υ1g!2wpbd#6Q3B)G%.f'ffkwq4 0i ,GeohJM2R[2nRYhS|UBZFMc&kmy䪓Ö/<}رꍧw;e])ʠ<Nr:6bO,ֺ,.H"5ġT0px3*Ł"ř)3(ި2Z{S l5V4(D*EMmܬ%Չ,S,4ٍDaJ0M,UtO7eBASG%p)3_k(N8t^U'V8*Xxᢁ|S\!Z4kn')R>QIPgh H4fS4>oq8)o)U%Ԇ Ƽ9xG1X}~c*\/6-?"PJ-uGz}S5cslD{YϘ-,NҍZ!EN{P\YuuDkN5|U{ĻkQD౛[UfȷѧTH23VOK$I)̪ &0Yml%d!<Ͱs{d.2#e :iɥHXv]&%/Y/\Ӆ3i/#XaM*J۠#9%"mGUrÝBL1i&A<@߫Ѷp(y< 6EOn?MXǏesolK~ռU'}Ask5[0/1#d:#s=ܲԣ4(%yn5͕Y,\BV.CvjZB<f3co*~p^NS(qG ?@(}f;DUl^7 5{mR>Skgl; Śv2;^VŻ@J>«&`Y `)}r2ց|dΗh0LdeW,gͤը_<8 Ȥ'`mmTE"a!,l Vg<Ozڤ6|\| Ub]exjXDoVP  ³.g&+M _yDΐl.;,+|z;XA5_(V ԟvїq\]j ͞jRS}"؏氈s1LeZTCs+ߩrON}W.[Ћύ%x\¯<.N7Ԗ_.>^0.F{He sss*?=EyMjqXB>o@~y T qe'g@J4Oa^{v!Ő"z'-HWANé?xY5N86op/=+_F顃?LϦ:ZTU 97sSjw=?,OnU-`1qY*z/SFfa g>ٝN}UYGLλ5o\5RwwT$1uSwnB*&og%Ή8 r * !N]gƫ3XgxoKߵ It<],ٕESYRy4x@n*,7njÖ\|ym8m^m)]P/Zj(&/3pG1s`QNN\e+Ǐ_{fH0o-la Mqtk,?e+yV@t#AeacsCrhЯPK%,ccA\&}/D_|!Ju]pD!pzyfl(nNW-'9e,VK gzsG˖ux(1%$jV~{ Usr!s͖Efp^}呹T ۍ''n~woaY+i3a8J|MynMﶭD 0b]PWV)#Dqjs{_-ʙ%<wGS2 ?F#P3YƵ\H % cN9O&rٔ![NLr1n r7,ݟR7ZmyugW==,ocK8߀JVK0¿<̻J۱?%r.l'̕$hML3n↴IvZ+S{fUn|_;+ٝ cotäW7Jq8_gpF/쇒K-MLvDփs8}UJՑ $H#pQj#r(-ks|= d"PYHcvHm `P9/F9bݢ]3~ʗLtكa~UᕭڂA5*])U'V?wn˓8^6UE>'4۩m\&c@rAm3ittmѮP7|NC.!>Jn%QYMY\'qSδBEl,deT/䕲gRwn+St.+>c?Sz.jL୏GAv6D;VGb~}{.vk-Y]GB߂z~vgR@CSوs=}d+ZW]2i|wQLvURbay"{igs?.멋(D~g}zg|QS>oiHY;1RFKdRiDYuer}`Vɂҩ*$%b)`q0g B I-)Nҷ?|5!|H]/ű[4S29 LڵCY\|˛(gJluO}uǩ+W1?/ŜŞ?^ 6l}?K5luz<~܍]yD)gB;>ԬrueQ=,Ugfshk9 4PucP+1ydӜ 6q~_:"$?T5 V4,oY/Tc/6OdٙZY?S/Ɯel~䤺9ەZQbpA5̱0>A+4:ҏmeHjͶE[Nxqkȼ0fݶ:^R?nvR7Lm…Jal0 gU >Cs7zGO
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1