Christian Bauman
I was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, on
June 15, 1970. My maternal grandfather owned a butcher store near the
steel mill in Bethlehem. He was the son of a hatmaker in the Fishtown
district of Philadelphia and found his meat-cutting calling while an
apprentice at Reading Terminal's center city market. Later he was a
sergeant at a POW camp in Virgina during WWII; after he died we found
recipes for sausage written in German in a notebook in his house. I
never met my paternal grandfather. He was a Marine in WWII, and they say
he stormed the beach at Guadalcanal. He contracted malaria there. He
died in his 40s. I've heard he died on a golf course with a drink in his
hand. I don't know if it's true or not, but it's a good story. In
pictures he's a thin-mustcahed slickster in sharp clothes. My maternal
grandfather was a big man with little fashion sense who delighted in me
and I delighted in him. My maternal side is Philadelphian, and Ireland
and England before that (Morrissey, Shanahan, Young). My paternal side
is northeastern Pennsylvania people; the Lehigh Valley, Slate Belt, the
Poconos. They came from Scotland and Germany (Macadam, Bauman). My
maternal grandmother died when I was a baby. My paternal grandmother,
like much of my family, is a long story.
I grew up mostly right across the river in New Jersey in a little farm town called Quakertown between Clinton and Flemington. There were still a lot of open fields there, then, and woods. I was a fairly dismal student and ended my relationship with formal education the day I squeaked out of high school. I tried my hand at theater school, the HB Studio in New York, but gave that up when they wouldn't let me play old men. I met Jack Hardy around that time and began writing.
I've done a bunch of things to pay the bills over the years, with widely varying degrees of success: I've been a soldier, sailor, touring musician, cook, house painter, clerk, editor, copywriter, laborer. There's other things in there, but who can remember? I spent part of one winter on a scaffold, dangling high on an old West Philly high school, doing something with windows (I'd lived in India for a year when I was 13, and spent most that cold winter on the scaffold wishing I was back in Kashmir). The next spring I had a job watering plants. Some of the plants I watered were in the corporate offices of AT&T. I timed it so I got there around 2 p.m. and could help myself to the buffet in the executive dining room. I wasn't particularly good at any of these jobs, although I usually tried. I was pretty good at being a soldier and I think I wasn't too bad as an editor.
I live again in Pennsylvania now. George Washington crossed the Delaware River a few miles from where I live, on his way to attacking the Hessians in Trenton. Of more interest to me are the nearby former homes of Moss Hart, Oscar Hammerstein, James Michener, Pearl Buck.
I grew up mostly right across the river in New Jersey in a little farm town called Quakertown between Clinton and Flemington. There were still a lot of open fields there, then, and woods. I was a fairly dismal student and ended my relationship with formal education the day I squeaked out of high school. I tried my hand at theater school, the HB Studio in New York, but gave that up when they wouldn't let me play old men. I met Jack Hardy around that time and began writing.
I've done a bunch of things to pay the bills over the years, with widely varying degrees of success: I've been a soldier, sailor, touring musician, cook, house painter, clerk, editor, copywriter, laborer. There's other things in there, but who can remember? I spent part of one winter on a scaffold, dangling high on an old West Philly high school, doing something with windows (I'd lived in India for a year when I was 13, and spent most that cold winter on the scaffold wishing I was back in Kashmir). The next spring I had a job watering plants. Some of the plants I watered were in the corporate offices of AT&T. I timed it so I got there around 2 p.m. and could help myself to the buffet in the executive dining room. I wasn't particularly good at any of these jobs, although I usually tried. I was pretty good at being a soldier and I think I wasn't too bad as an editor.
I live again in Pennsylvania now. George Washington crossed the Delaware River a few miles from where I live, on his way to attacking the Hessians in Trenton. Of more interest to me are the nearby former homes of Moss Hart, Oscar Hammerstein, James Michener, Pearl Buck.
$16.95
ISBN: 9781933633473
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Published: Melville House - March 1st, 2008
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ISBN: 9780743227841
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Published: Touchstone Books - October 2nd, 2002
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ISBN: 9780743270984
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Published: Touchstone Books - April 4th, 2016
Situated on the main street of the historic Delaware Riverfront town of New Hope, Pennsylvania, Farley’s Bookshop and its knowledgeable, experienced staff have endeavored to satisfy the literary tastes of the area inhabitants for over forty years. Whether you are Bucks County born-and-bred or just stopping by to enjoy the crisp river air and delightful scenery, you will be pleasantly surprised to find the largest and most diverse collection of books-in-print in Bucks County. Farley’s may have competition, but it has few peers. We encourage you to browse our website, but please remember that getting acquainted with our online persona is no substitute for exploring the narrow passageways and teeming shelves of our storefront and discovering that perfect book nestled amongst so many others.
