Contents
Introduction
The Personal Past—Early
Sitting on Top of the World
Marching with Father Groppi
The Long Hot Summer of 1967
Coming Unglued with America
My Life as a Barfly
Getting Around
The Slow Road Home
Pedal Power
From Steel Wheels to Skinny Tires
Blue-Collar Capital
Milwaukee the Innovator
End of the Line for A. O. Smith Plant
Hog Heaven
Strong Spirits, Stronger Aroma
Requiem for Local 1111
Putting the “Labor” in Labor Day
In the Neighborhood
Witness to Change
History on the Scrap Heap
Before the Deer District
New Life in an Old Square
A Forest in the City
Siblings and Strangers
Landmarks and Landscapes
City Hall Reborn
From Bogart to Beethoven
The Mansion in the Trailer Park
Wrong Turn to the Past
Civic Center or Civic Wasteland?
A South Side Landmark Restored
Used Cars in the Parlor
A Bright Idea for an Overbuilt Bridge
A City Built on Water
Paddling through History
Lost on the Lady Elgin
In-Town Up North
“Low Bridge, Everybody Down”
Condo Canyon Echoes with History
A Yuletide Tragedy
Stream of Memories
Summertime
A “Breathing Place” for the Masses
Generations of Oohs! and Aaahs!
Where Have All the Odors Gone(Long Time Passing)?
Summerfest’s Prehistory
Our Rocky Road to the Big Leagues
Personalities
Hank, Meet Gertie
Beulah Brinton of Bay View
A Bouquet for Mr. Whitnall
Jay Scriba’s Milwaukee
A Green Pantheon
City Hall, Northwoods Style
Frank P. Zeidler, 1912–2006
The Common Good
Socialist Citadel
The Power of Work
A Pioneering Approach to Poverty
Turning on the “Lighted Schoolhouse”
A Healing Street
The Other Pandemic
The Missing Middle
The Nature of Things
Saner Outside
Robin Rudebreast
Epidemics in the Treetops
Return of the Beaver
The Cost of Paper
Swimming Upstream
A Vote for Autumn
A Milwaukeean Abroad
A Polish Pilgrimage
Luck of the Irish
Lost and Found
Neighbors and Strangers
Ein Prosit, Milwaukee!
Latino Milwaukee
“Why Can’t They Be Like Us?”
From Beaver Pelts to Poker Chips
Chinese without a Chinatown
Most Segregated Metro Area?
Birth Pangs of a New Understanding
Wisconsin Winters
In Praise of True Winter
Skating into the Past
The End of Winter?
The Personal Past—Late
Memory Lane
Deep in the Heart of Dairyland
Owning the Past
The Generation Before
Rest in Peace, Naturally
A Life in History
Index
About the Author