ePub Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont in America: Their Friendship and Their Travels by From Brand: University of Virginia Press in History

Description

In Life with Mae; the late Neal Shine combines an engaging memoir of his family life in prewar Detroit with a biography of his mother; Mae; whose vibrant spirit and fierce affection left an indelible mark on her three sons and their friends and neighbors. Mae was born in 1909 in the small town of Carrick-on-Shannon; Ireland; where her father ran the depot that distributed Guiness Stout. Going into service as a housekeeper at fourteen; Mae quickly saw that the only future she had in Ireland was as a servant. By the time she was eighteen; she had saved enough money from her housekeeping job for a one-way ticket to the United States; where she eventually settled in Detroit. Shine; longtime editor and former publisher of the Detroit Free Press; tells his story in a series of entertaining interconnected vignettes; reflecting on his mother; his family life in Detroit; and later his journey to visit family in Ireland. Whether recounting Mae's feud with a local tavern owner; her distrust of the food sold by local grocers; or her standoff with a department store deliveryman who had come to repossess their furniture; Shine lovingly conveys his mother's fierce protective streak; her effervescent personality; and her outspoken identification with the poor. For fans of Shine's insightful and humorous storytelling; as well as fellow Detroiters and readers with Irish roots; Life with Mae will be an entertaining and satisfying read.