For Boomers who grew up in rural America, "In the Land of Used to Be" stirs up long forgotten memories.
For Boomers who grew up in rural America, "In the Land of Used to Be" stirs up long forgotten memories.
A book about growing up in rural America
Born in 1953 and raised in western Pennsylvania, Dietle’s earliest memories are from a remote farm in the mountains of Somerset County, before moving to the rolling hills of Mercer County. His boyhood stories, although set in western Pennsylvania, resonate with the experiences of kids who grew up anywhere in rural America during the pre-digital age. This memoir is not just a personal history; it’s an authentic slice of mid-20th-century American life. Its stories are sure to rekindle long-forgotten childhood memories for Boomers who grew up in those simpler times.
Stories of Youthful Adventure
As they grew older, their adventures expanded to include bicycles and eventually, personally owned cars. Teenage years brought new activities such as learning to drive, road racing, drifting, working on cars, hunting, doing chores, teenage romance, enjoying rock music, smoking, attending overnight field parties, skinny dipping, moonshine, and part-time work.
Get your copy today!
This Father’s Day, surprise your Boomer father or grandfather with “In the Land of Used to Be” — a captivating memoir about growing up in rural America during the Baby Boomer era. Written by Lannie Dietle, this book offers a vivid autobiographical look at what life was like for an obscure subset of the Boomer generation: The country kids.
Back then, children growing up in rural America were largely unsupervised and responsible for their own entertainment. Dietle's early boyhood adventures, shared with friends, initially took place on foot as they explored forests, fields, and roads engaging in activities like fishing, trapping, archery, shooting BB-guns and homemade slingshots, wrestling, climbing trees, swinging from grapevines, building tree houses, riding ponies, camping, playing in barns, and performing farm labor.
Dietle’s lighthearted and nostalgic storytelling captures and preserves the essence of simpler times in rural America during the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. Published and sold by the Mercer County Historical Society of Pennsylvania, “In the Land of Used to Be” is also available on Amazon. The book makes an excellent gift for senior citizens, who will undoubtedly relate to the childhood and teenage experiences it describes. Make this Father’s Day special with a gift that brings back cherished memories and celebrates the simpler times of rural American life! Give the gift of nostalgia!
