Fourteen linked tales spanning the decades 1950 to 1970 invite us into the private lives of the colorful denizens of communities like Coney Island, Long Beach, the Jersey shore, and the California beach towns.

 

Set in the shadow of the Cold War, the boardwalk characters, many of them misfits and wannabes, share their joys and sorrows in a world where kewpie dolls and prizes are often the only consolations for lost dreams. Included in the cast are Beverly the Queen of the Skeeball arcade, Jollie Trixie the fat lady, Arnold the king of Playworld, Miss Lydia the famous ballerina, and Joey the orphan.

 

Each story is paired with a vintage black-and-white boardwalk photograph capturing the mood after World War II when a day out meant breathing in the bracing salt air and feeding coins into the machines at the penny arcade.

ROSLYN BERNSTEIN

 

Born in Brooklyn, Roslyn Bernstein moved to Long Beach, New York in 1948. She was raised in the West End of town, a short walking distance from the city’s boardwalk, which runs for two miles along the Atlantic Ocean side of this barrier island. A poet and journalist, she has been a professor of Journalism and Creative Writing at Baruch College, CUNY, since 1974. Roslyn Bernstein earned a BA at Brandeis University and a MA and Ph.D. at New York University. She has served as the director of the Sidney Harman Writer-in-Residence Program at Baruch College since it was established in 1998.

 

 

 

KENNETH S. TYDINGS, POD. D. 1917-1991

 

Dr. Kenneth Tydings and his family came to Long Beach, New York in 1945. He was the first podiatrist in that city. His avocation had always been photography. He authored approximately 75 instructional and photography books and filled those books with photographs of his family and his city.