Gloria Golec grew up on the South Side of Chicago, in Archer Heights, and attended St. Bruno Grammar School and Lourdes High School. She was an educator her entire life, teaching high school and college English and is an Emerita Professor of English at College of DuPage. Her Ph.D. is in Comparative Literature from Emory University. She enjoys power walking, gardening and traveling. She most enjoys being with her granddaughters. Read More
South Side Memories
October 1, 2025
Trade Paperback
Available now!
$20.00
A South Side of Chicago memoir about the joys and struggles of growing up in an era when family, church and neighborhood were solid anchors.
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Gloria Golec
Author
Summary
South Side Memories is for readers who want to reflect on the influences of their childhood and specifically people who grew up in Chicago. It’s a memoir about the joys and struggles of growing up in an era when family, church and neighborhood were solid anchors. This book remembers the hope for a better life that a family had for themselves and especially their children.
The stories recall the daily life from the 50s in a working class Chicago neighborhood, Archer Heights. The parents both work in factories and the little girl is shaped by her grandmother, who watches her every day. As the girl grows up, she recounts her childhood activities: her first day of school, her First Holy Communion, baking with her mother, and continues a slice of life narration until 8th grade. Her life centered around her family, her neighborhood Catholic school and her church,