Texas City Tales

My Youthful Adventures in the 40's and 50's in Texas City, Texas

Non-Fiction - Memoir
Kindle Edition
Reviewed on 06/15/2019
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Author Biography

Mr. Slager has a S.B. in Mechanical Engineering, from MIT, 1959, and a M.S. in Electrical Engineering, from UCSB, 1975. He was a research engineer and scientist at several Santa Barbara, California research firms including General Motors Defense Research Laboratories, General Electric TEMPO, General Research Corp, and Frontier Technology.
In these firms he was the author of numerous studies, reports, and books concerning classified US Defense matters. While he worked at these firms he learned how to craft written publications and began to write stories for his own amusement on various topics including his childhood in Texas with an eye to future publication. This book is the culmination of some of a collection of these stories about his youth in Texas City, Texas.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Maria Victoria Beltran for Readers' Favorite

Texas City Tales: My Youthful Adventures in the 40's and 50's in Texas City, Texas by William L. Slager is the memoir of a boy raised back in the days when life was simpler and technology did not rule people's lives. Mr. Slager was born in Ohio but his family moved to Texas City in the early 40's, where his father worked for a petrochemical company essential to the war effort. One of his earliest memories is the devastating hurricane in 1943, just the first of several hurricanes that the family experiences. And the book goes on to recount a happy childhood that was mostly spent outdoors with other children his age, until his teenage years when he falls in love with a girl that will always have a special place in his heart.

William Slager's Texas City Tales is a funny and informative account of growing up in the so-called good old days. Many of us may not have experienced running barefoot with our siblings in the back yard, playing with mud balls with a friend, or simply spending the afternoon playing "kick the can" with the other kids in our neighborhood. In telling his boyhood story, William Slager reminds his readers that back in those days, children did not stay confined inside their houses, endlessly playing games on their computers, most of the time all by their lonesome. They were allowed to explore the outside world and as a result, they enjoyed social contact with their neighbors, other children, and even with the animals around them. As such, they learned early in life how to deal with others and how to take care of themselves. Insightful and delightful, Texas City Tales tries to enlighten today's parents to the tricky business of raising children in the midst of all the technological gadgets available to them today, so that they will become successful someday. This is an entertaining read.

Edith Wairimu

Texas City Tales: My Youthful Adventures in the '40s and '50s in Texas City, Texas by William L. Slager recounts nostalgic childhood memories. Born in Texas, Slager grew up in a loving home. His childhood years were not without challenges but were filled with many amazing moments and delightful opportunities for discovery and adventure. In the chapter “The Sea Captain's Tin Barn,” Slager shares the moment he discovered that throwing gravel on a neighbor’s tin roof would produce a loud and satisfying crunch-like sound. In other chapters, he discusses the games he played with his friends, parenting during that era, the Gulf Coast weather which included frightening rainstorms, along with other interesting aspects of his childhood years.

Texas City Tales: My Youthful Adventures in the '40s and '50s in Texas City, Texas by William L. Slager makes use of short chapters that are clear and that cover a specific event. This makes the work focused and hence easy to read through. Many parts of the book contain humorous instances and comical characters that give a glimpse of what life was like growing up in that era. The work also contains important parenting advice derived from the wisdom of the parents of the 1940s and 1950s. In the book, children are encouraged to discover nature and enjoy playing, which fosters decision-making skills. Texas City Tales contrasts the past and present to reveal an exciting past era. It is both entertaining and informative.