Kensington: a memoir about friendship, love, and life in a small town (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781544624778)

Kensington is a memoir built on the fabric of a montage of anecdotes, but the book actually begins in 1957 after an emotionally charged move to Dallas. The author, who at the time was fourteen, struck up a friendship with fellow classmate, Steve Miller, and with the eventual addition of Boz Scaggs, they formed a rock group that performed extensively for the next five years and led to the careers of two superstars. The formation of the group and their impact on the Dallas music scene is relived in the words of both Haydon and Miller, but includes quotes from all of the original members. The only thing to save Haydon from falling deeper into a chasm caused by the lost lifestyle in Kensington was being a member of that band. With devastating results, everything else became inconsequential. Kensington, as seen through the eyes of author Robert Haydon, is the heartfelt true story of a family, a town, and friendship in the late 40's and 50's. It speaks not only of his ancestry and the evolution of a family but also of the ordinary and extraordinary events that shaped his childhood in the safe harbor of a small suburb locked inside the huge metroplex of Washington D.C. This book is captivating, both history-wise, and as a trip down memory lane. With the country caught up in a whirlwind of fast-moving technology, and lifestyles to match, this creative memoir provides a wonderful return to yesteryear. With his ancestry deciphered and made available by two family genealogists, the author delves into the lives of eccentrics such as Percy Mann, who in the 1920's, in a dispute with a local gendarme, drove his new Buick to the top of the highest hill on his property for all to see and never touched it again; of sports figures such as Carl and "Peewee" Reese, and Joseph McElroy Mann, who threw the first no-hitter using a curve ball; to historical figures such as Roger Conant, who founded Salem, Massachusetts, in 1626, and architect William Thomson, whose buildings still grace the downtown landscape of New York City. And, in the midst of these stalwart members of society, there's talk of pirates and gold. Utilizing some creative dialogue, letters and photos, the author draws a light sketch of his grandparents, the Haydons from rural Kentucky and the Manns from Louisville. This inevitably leads to his parents journey, their meeting, romance, and marriage, with that being ironically at he outset of the Great Depression in October of 1929. Then, in the signature section of the book, after a twenty year hiatus, the author returns to Kensington, and with this bittersweet return, his indelible memories are brought to the surface as he discusses one anecdote after another, some joyous, some humorous, some quite melancholy, but all from the heart. Finally, in a fitting end to the book, Haydon talks openly about his family, friends and some special Kensington stories.

Author: Robert Haydon
ISBN-10: 1544624778
ISBN-13: 9781544624778
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Language: English
Published: 04/14/2017
Pages: 124
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.39lbs
Size: 9.02h x 5.98w x 0.26d