A Place in Time

A poetic glimpse into the heart of an American Factory Town

David Kherdian’s memoir, A PLACE IN TIME, blends prose and poetry to perfectly capture the sights, sounds, and spirit of his factory hometown, where everyone participated for the common good; when peace and trust, and a sense of wholeness, and mutual sharing was experienced by everyone. And it is for this reason that we are taken in nostalgically by his memoir, with a longing for a time in America that we feel is in urgent need of recovery .  

As David effortlessly moves between prose and poetry, he creates a poetic memoir like no other. This guidebook into a most unique time and place takes us first to the edge of town, on the shores of Lake Michigan, and then slowly brings us into the heart of the city. Once we've reached Racine's downtown, we are taken deeply into the most overlooked aspect of any factory town, the people there who call it home: His friends, his struggling parents, his neighbors and playmates, the fishermen on the pier, and his favorite teacher. David pays loving homage to all of them, and in so doing, he gives us a key to unlock our own private memories, that we may have been on the verge of losing.  Even though this is David's memoir, his flowing prose and touching verses are offered to us as a gift and a blessing, for us to explore the values we grew up with, that can return us to ourselves, to a time we may have believed long gone, and in danger of being lost.

A Message from David

Our love of place can continue even when gone, because in America this love of place existed; our nostalgia and sentiment for our hometowns bears witness to this, and this is what A Place In Time brings into focus for the reader, because we had a home once, that we can now recreate for ourselves, even when it is gone, although still standing yet in remiss. And this is something we can accomplish from memories that remain from that place and time that was once our home.  When this love is realized from our one place, it becomes transferable, in that our present place may remind us of our lost place, emboldening us to reinvent ourselves and not lose what we once had. The power of art, of literature in particular, can be a great help in this, for we need examples, models, and pioneers of the spirit to walk with us and carry us forward on our journey.