A Boy Called Combustion: Growing Up in 1940s Mississippi

A Boy Called Combustion: Growing Up in 1940s Mississippi

Heartwarming and hilarious, A Boy Called Combustion celebrates the adventures of childhood, the bonds of family and the joys of life in the 1940s South. Bill Keeton - nicknamed "Combustion" for reasons readers will immediately understand - grew up as part of the Fondren family, a clan large enough to give its name to a section of Jackson, Mississippi. Accidentally knocking down his grandparent's garage, "helping" neighbors paint their house and his uncle's car and denting his mother's brand new stove with his BB gun, young Billy constantly surprised all who knew him. The boo's linked stories savor the vivid imagination behind a child's comic exploits, the wisdom gained in the aftermath, and the colorful family and friends who shared both the lessons and the fun. A Boy Called Combustion is a memoir deeply rooted in a particular time and place: the Mississippi of the 1940s, where folks never cook from prepared mixes and kids have a weekly date with the movie serials. Yet it is timeless American story of life, love, laughter, maturation, and the gifts of family strength. "A BOY CALLED COMBUSTION" is a downright funny, while poignant, tale of family survival and patience told by a masterful storyteller--a unique coming of age story for a young man in Mississippi that will reach readers well beyond the Deep South. Dennis the Menace ain't got nothing on Billy Keeton." --DARDEN NORTH, IPPY award-winning author of WIGGLE ROOM "Bill Keeton's memoir is chock full of wit and homespun wisdom, a modern day Mark Twain recalling his youth in 1940s Mississippi. Through Keeton's vibrant prose and charming stories we see how the values of a large and loving Southern family shaped a rascal channeling Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn into an insightful doctor who has served his community for over 40 years. A BOY CALLED COMBUSTION will leave you yearning for a time when families lived next door and the Saturday double-feature was the only babysitter you ever needed." --LARRY KAHN, author of THE JINX and KING OF PAINE An interview with Bill Keeton MD, author of A BOY CALLED COMBUSTION: Q. What was inspiration for writing these stories? A. Many of the stories in the book have been told by me and my family for as long as I can remember. They always seemed to be well received. Reading others' life stories, as well as my father's letters, was inspiring for me. Daddy neither finished school nor read fine literature. But he spoke very well, and wrote many excellent letters. I decided if he could write so excellently without the benefit of the education he ensured that I had, I should be able to do so as well. Q. Are the stories true? A. These stories are all true--and despite what you may think, none are even exaggerated to any significant degree. Yes, I really did get into all those scrapes as a kid, even the most unlikely ones. As my cousin Ken Goodrich wrote in his foreword to the book (we decided to call it the "Forewarning," which seemed more apt), "You just can't make this stuff up." Q. Fondren, MS is described often in the book. What was it like when you were growing up? A. When I was a young child growing up there, Fondren Grocery--which I describe in the book--seemed to be the center of things in its part of Jackson. There wasn't much else around except a service station a block or so away, a hardware store, the Pix movie theater, and three churches. While we considered ourselves "city folks," ours was a small community. And of course, this was in the 1940s. As a five-year-old, I could walk by myself to the store; by the time I was eight or nine, I would take a city bus downtown to go to a movie. I would come home after school, get on my bike, and stay out until it was time for supper. Everybody pretty much knew everybody. So while I may have been out of my mother's sight, there was always someone around who knew where I was and what I was doing. The luxury of this totally safe environment is something most parents today don't have. Q. What is Fondren like today? A. Fondren was originally far enough from Jackson, MS, that it showed up on maps as a separate place. Later, it became incorporated into Jackson proper. Fondren today is entirely different than it was in my childhood. It's now a vibrant community with a real spirit and life of its own. People enthusiastically want to be part of it. Its population is nationally, ethnically and racially diverse, and it is home to all ages from the very young to the very old. I suspect that very few of its residents have ever heard of my grandfather, D. F. Fondren, who gave the place its name. But I think he'd be pleased by how much people love living there, as well as surprised by the size and complexity of modern-day Jackson. Q. What was it like growing up in a big close-knit family like the one the book describes? A. I was surrounded by not only my immediate family, but also by all of my aunts, uncles and cousins. I had cousins who were almost as old as my mother, as wel