Growing up in rural America | A mid-20th century memoir

A description of the book 'In the Land of Used to Be.'

A baby boomer coming of age story
The 2024 book “In the land of used to be: Memories of a rural Pennsylvania childhood” is an autobiographical look at growing up in rural America during the Baby Boomer era. The author, Lannie Dietle, was born on a Kentucky military base in 1953 and was raised in western Pennsylvania. Although his earliest memories are from living on a remote farm in the mountains of Somerset County, he was primarily raised along a dirt road in the rolling hills of Mercer County. Even though his boyhood stories are set in western Pennsylvania, they are probably not significantly different from the coming-of-age stories of boys who grew up elsewhere in rural America back then, in the pre-digital age. In view of that, Mr. Dietle’s book is something of a 20th century history book in addition to being an entertaining memoir. It gives younger Americans insight into an often-overlooked subset of the Baby Boomer generation: The Country Kids. It is also sure to rekindle the long-forgotten childhood memories of Boomers who grew up in rural America in those simpler times.

Stories about youthful adventure
Back then, starting at a young age, children growing up in rural America were largely unsupervised, and were responsible for their own entertainment. Many of the early boyhood adventures of Mr. Dietle and his friends took place on foot, wandering about near and far as they explored the surrounding forests, fields, and roads doing things like fishing, wrestling, building tree houses, archery, shooting BB-guns, trapping, climbing trees and chopping them down, swinging from grapevines, riding ponies, making slingshots, camping, and playing in barns. Eventually their adventures incorporated bicycles, and then ultimately, personally owned cars. As teenagers, activities included things like hunting, road racing, drifting, working on cars, doing chores, chasing girls, smoking, rock music, overnight field parties, parking, moonshine, skinny dipping, and part time work. Mr. Dietle’s lighthearted and nostalgic storytelling brings these cherished memories to life, capturing the essence of simpler times in rural America in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s.

The book is published and sold by the Mercer County Historical Society, which is located at 119 South Pitt Street, Mercer Pennsylvania. It is also available via Amazon, where it is listed under “United States Biographies,” and “Community & Culture Biographies.” Order your copy today for an entertaining look at how things used to be in rural America!

“In the land of used to be” is a Boomer's story about growing up in rural America. Senior citizens will undoubtedly relate to many of the childhood and teenage experiences described in the book. Back during their growing up years, rural Baby Boomers had to invent most of their own activities, because things like cell phones, tablets, personal computers, and video games were still far in the future. (ISBN-13: 979-8327495098, non-fiction, photo-illustrated.)

This is a 2024 photo of the author, Lannie Dietle. His boyhood stories of everyday life capture the essence of growing up in rural America in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. What was it like as a kid being raised in rural America back in the Baby Boomer days? Order your copy of “In the land of used to be” today to find out!

Many of Mr. Dietle's stories about teenagers growing up in rural America involve the use and abuse of personally owned cars. This photo shows the second car he purchased as a teenager. Its rack and pinion steering and modified suspension gave it excellent handling characteristics.