This book captures a brief time in our history that in my mind may never occur again. It is possible that other children during this time period experienced similar lives of excitement and innocence. And to those who have lived through similar experiences, this book will bring back many memories. This book is a work in creative non-fiction. Mason Woods is about the bond of friendship that developed between three young boys Boo, Johnny and Phil at a time in America when family and dependency on friendship was very important. It was a time when the advanced technologies were the radio, the automobile and the movies. The aspirations of every parent were basically the same as those today and that is to see their children succeed by entering establishments of higher learning and finding their niche in society. Education was of prime importance to all growing up during this time. Mason Woods tells of the hardships encountered by the people who chose to immigrate to The United States from the poverty stricken areas of Europe. It is based on fact as told to the author by the people who lived through and experienced the hardships of coming to a new land, their chosen land, The United States of America.
About the Author: Phil was born in 1932 and was raised in Niles, Ohio. His love for writing began as a ten year-old. He was an avid reader and enjoyed taking books home from the local library, the McKinley Memorial Library. He enjoyed reading the classics. This gave rise to his wanting to create literature. Early on, engrossed in the Science Fiction Novels of the time, Phil developed theories on space travel and Science Fiction themes. These were started and never completed and eventually lost due to distractions. Later in life he thought that children's books would be interesting to write. He developed several backgrounds for a story but again distractions and commitments caused this to never come to fruition. Most of these were lost. The Mason Woods is a work that he felt had to be done to preserve forever the way of life for young boys in the late 1930's and early 1940's. He also wished to document some of the hardships associated with immigrating to The United States and the difficulties that resulted while living as new immigrants in the United States. The background for this book was garnered from long discussions with his father and mother in their later years. The book itself was written in a three month period.