Author: Ralph Shapiro

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation

Published: 2012-09-21

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 1479704113

What was life like growing up on the Lower East Side of NYC during the Great Depression? Can you imagine it? For adults, of course, it was harsh; for a young boy like me, born in 1924, it was not as bad as you think. I actually had fun playing sports and games you probably never heard of. Learn about them. My vivid recollection paints a broad view of the Lower East Side for you to see what it was like: social activity, sports activity, bread lines, patriotism, politics, professional sports interest—compare it to your experiences. I was fortunate not to be hungry for food but hungry to experience the wonders of our country. Learn how I broke out of the Lower East Side shell. A college education was hardly a goal among the youth in my community, but I made it at a young age, graduating from the City College of NY at twenty. I had five industrial engineering jobs, hardly the experience that would prepare me to manage NASA satellites operations. It did not, but by a quirk, I became operations manager of a series of NASA weather satellites called Nimbus, research satellites that provided many benefits to society you would be interested in learning about. So why not also learn how satellites operate? I describe that in simple terms. Of course this book is my life story—my story of raising a family, having a productive career, paying back to society through volunteerism while keeping close to Judaism, and enjoying my senior years while still being productive at consulting work.