The decade of the fifties may have been the last to allow children to be children. Childhood in the fifties was innocent, happy, and carefree. Author Bill Ramsey was a child who grew up in that decade. In Billy the Kid (From Houston-Not Texas) he recalls those times and the townspeople, teachers, and neighbors in Houston, Pennsylvania.
Ramsey and his family lived in a modest home in this small town in western Pennsylvania, where the townspeople helped him to become a man. His adult values and philosophies were shaped by that experience. This biographical memoir recounts the simple existence of children in the fifties, with the pick-up ball games, bike riding, and spontaneous play that today's children have replaced with television, the Internet and video games. It was a time when families ate meals together and fast food restaurants did not exist. It was a time when everyone knew his neighbors.
The vignettes offered in Billy the Kid honor the memory of those carefree days and the joys of childhood. Although we can't return to those years, we can return to a simpler way of life that can be sustained and enjoyed.