Eastside Kid: A Memoir of My Youth, From Detroit to Congress - Softcover

Did you ever wonder what a member of congress was like as a juvenile roaming the streets of his or her neighborhood? Probably not. But nevertheless all of these people in our nation's capital were once kids. They grew up with a set of interests and values that they would take with them to the halls of a great democracy. Tracing his roots back to the small and large towns in Europe, Bonior recounts for us the coming of age of his boyhood in the Polish/Ukrainian community of Hamtramck, Michigan. The foundations of his boyhood, his Catholicism and athleticism, were where he often sought and found comfort. It was then he learned to embrace the struggle of the underdog. He was taught the value of work by a loving, yet taciturn father and grandfather. And he grew up faster than most boys his age as he lived with the specter of his mother's early death at 37 years of age. David Bonior was a working class kid with big dreams. This book is about the lessons of his youth and how he used them to navigate life on Detroit's Eastside. How he became a leader in his community on and off the sports field and then used those skills to become not only a member of congress, but the House Whip, the number two person in his party in the United States House of Representatives. This is a book of early memories. It's about "Elbowing his way into memory". It is about an American town where he took his first step, said his first word, and learned the fundamental life lessons that made him the legislator he was and the person he will always be. Fully illustrated with period and family photographs, this story is an invocation of a truly American life.

Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976, David Bonior served Michigan's Macomb and St. Clair Counties for 26 years--the longest tenure of any Congressman from this district. When he retired at the end of 2002, he had held the position of Democratic Whip, the second ranking Democrat in the House, for 10 years. Bonior currently serves on the board of directors of Jobs With Justice and was the founding chair of American Rights at Work. His tenure in Congress was marked by a passion for social and economic justice. Bonior earned a reputation as a strong voice for working families and as a leader on the environment, fair trade, jobs, and human and civil rights. Born in Detroit, he graduated from the University of Iowa, received a master's degree in history from Chapman College, served in the Air Force, and worked as a probation officer and adoption caseworker before he was elected to the Michigan Legislature in 1972. He has been a professor at Wayne State University and was recently appointed a visiting professor in political science at Iowa. David and Judy Bonior have a combined family of three children and eight grandchildren.