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Hale Men of Fordham: Hail!

by Fred Feddeck

141 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #00-0243; ISBN 1-55212-577-7; US$19.00, C$21.50, EUR15.50, £11.00

The book chronicles the growing intensity of college life in the early 1960s before the full impact of the Vietnam War. "Where were you on November 22, 1963?"

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about the book      about the author      introduction      catalogue info

About the Book It's late at night. Nothing really good on TV. Perhaps a book. Something different. What to read? Nothing with zillions of footnotes. Nothing with "redeeming social value". I definitely don't want any more work-related articles. And I'm tired of those "cutesy" mysteries. What's left? HALE MEN OF FORDHAM: HAIL! is a recapturing of one's college years. A return to the years of 1960-1964.in New York City and the world before the crushing full impact and embarrassment called "Vietnam". We had sports in school. We studied to be granted a degree. We worried about the future. College was really not different from today's college environment. Or was it? "How about November 22, 1963?" It was more than just my birthday!

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About the Author Fred Feddeck earned accounting degrees from Fordham University in the Bronx and from City College in Manhattan. He and his youngest brother own and operate a moving and storage company in New York City. Fred has continued his passion for sports, especially baseball. Fred also published Bainbridge, Marion, & Decatur in August 1999, through Vantage Press. This was a true story of a boy wanting to become a baseball player; his life in elementary school and high school in the early and late 1950s.

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INTRODUCTION

So, what's this book about and why should you buy it?

It is not a spy tale with special gadgetry that once turned into a movie loses all control over one's imagination. And isn't that an integral part of reading: picturing the events as they unfold? It is not a commentary of an immigrant's poverty and near despair that subconsciously prods one to buy the book because you want to feel sorry for someone or you want to "know" someone poorer than yourself. It is not an historical piece requiring hundreds of research hours to "set history straight". It is not a "sudden success" story ghostwritten for a ballplayer or actor who still has more than one-half of his/her life to live. Finally, it is not an unauthorized expose of a public figure that's meant to shock you and is replete with anonymous sources.

It is simply a true story (a love story, so to speak) of a boy growing up in New York City attending college in the early '60s before the explicit horrors of Vietnam. Hopefully it reflects the innocence of those times tempered with the growing world hostilities around us at that time. The joys of college life, friendships cemented over the years, and personal gratitude that we met the people we didn't know before sitting in the classroom with them. There's the reward of intercollegiate sports: the culmination of a sports dream while trying to hone one's perceived athletic abilities. However, it is not all "roses and ice cream". There's a large dose of negativity and posturing, but the reader should judge for himself/herself re the comments presented. There is, of course, some "social commentary", some of it subtle, some of it not so subtle. The narrative tells about Fordham University, the New York Jesuit University, but specifically the School of Business between 1960 and 1964. It's quite personal: how things were, how they relate to today, what is "missing" in today's society.

How does one recall all these events after almost 40 years? We kept no diaries. We kept no tape recordings. Simple: it's in one's competitive "juices". In the loving memories one has of one's classmates and neighborhood friends. In the camaraderie one takes on the "field of battle" with one's peers. In the cherished memories of those we shared our formative years. In the wholesome family life that most of us experienced. In the several class reunions we wouldn't miss attending. AND in the dark recesses of one's recollection of the horrors of such an unjust war in such a faraway place as Vietnam and the possibility at the time that WE might have to participate.

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Catalogue Information

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