Growing Old In New Town: What Marked Me, What Marred Me, What Made Me

A true saga of an African-American family that sprouted from the fallow soil of poverty, domestic violence, and the obnoxious weeds of bigotry, Growing Old in New Town narrates the memoir of a black boy’s upbringing in a racist, small southern town. This memoir follows author Michael E. Goings and his family through their struggles, dramas, and triumphs, providing an accurate depiction of life in the Jim Crow South from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Growing Old in New Town chronicles young Michael, the fifth born of ten siblings, who at an early age witnessed the horrors and happiness of being born in a poor black family in Dillon, South Carolina. He embodies many of the poor black children of his era and area who struggled with demons in their families, communities, and cultures.

This bittersweet drama highlights the fraternal comradery of brothers and the sibling rivalry that often caused them to clash. It tells of rural and southern living during Jim Crow from a poor, black boy’s perspective.