Outskirts Press, INC.

Most conversations with storyteller Bruce Allen include tales of the characters met, the values taught and the joys of growing up during the 1930s and ‘40s in his beloved Button End, a long-gone, tight-knit immigrant and blue collar neighborhood on the east side of Woburn, Massachusetts. You’ll meet a cherished teacher who taught much more than the three Rs, a depression-era family that couldn’t quite grow flowers, but ended up with enough vegetables to last the winter, another about a flower garden that didn’t fare too well due to a jealous wife, a visit from a young senatorial candidate named John F. Kennedy, the schoolhouse and the people who taught there, the lessons each generation handed down in memorable ways, and Bruce’s own family with their stories of immigrating to America and leaving their mark on everyone around them. It’s a book you won’t forget about a time that will live on through one man’s stories.