Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir (32 page)

Courtesy of the author, Charlotte Kearns Ovando, and Jeanne Kearns: page 12, 19, 28 both, 33 all, 53 bottom, 85, 100 bottom left, 116 top, 214, 256 both

Courtesy of the Lubar family: page 53 top, 62 top, 89 top left

Courtesy of the Schimmenti family: page 67

AP/Wide World Photos: page 46, 47 both, 62 bottom, 81, 150 bottom, 168, 172 all, 196 bottom left and right, 203, 204 both, 211 both, 220, 231 both

Nassau County Museum Collection, L.I.S.I.: page 39 both, 196 top

Courtesy of Rockville Centre Public Library Archives: page 89 top right, 100 top

Nancy Adler Baumel: page 100 bottom right, 185 bottom

Courtesy of Mr. Salvatore A. Milone: page 89 bottom

Courtesy of South Side High School Alumni Association: page 116 bottom

Courtesy of Elaine Friedle: page 185 top

SIMON & SCHUSTER PAPERBACKS
READING GROUP GUIDE

Wait Till Next Year

“
Wait Till Next Year!
” For decades, faithful fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers roared this impassioned battle cry, certain that the long-awaited world championship was right around the corner. When this dream finally crystallized in 1955, the world was forced to admit what Dodger fans knew all along: “dem Bums” didn’t just have a lot of heart; they had what it took to go all the way. The Dodgers were simply the best.

As a young girl living in the New York suburb of Rockville Centre, Doris Kearns grew up idolizing the Dodgers, from the elegance and bravery of Jackie Robinson, to the wonderful hitting streaks of Gil Hodges, to the peerless skill of catcher Roy Campanella. Doris’s passionate support for the Dodgers was matched only by her disdain for their New York rivals, the Yankees and the Giants.

For Doris, baseball was not just a spectator sport that helped forge a permanent bond with her father. It was a crucial catalyst for many of her most important life lessons. Through baseball, Doris discovered the power of a well-told story and the virtue of losing gracefully. Baseball high-lighted both the ugliness of racism and the beauty of camaraderie and sportsmanship. And on one unforgettable October afternoon in 1955, baseball revealed to twelve-year-old Doris Kearns the simple, sweet thrill of a long-awaited victory.

Wait Till Next Year
also captures the casual friendliness of the suburbs in the 1950s. Through Doris’s eyes, we meet
the cast of colorful characters that populated her hometown and made her small world seem bigger than life itself. We visit the butcher shop where debates between Dodgers and Giants fans were certain to heat up during the pennant race; Ebbets Field, where Doris paid homage to her chosen heroes; and the cozy streets of Rockville Centre, where your neighbors’ homes felt almost as familiar as your own.

A touching tribute to the fragile innocence of post-World War II America,
Wait Till Next Year
ultimately attests to one universal and bittersweet truth: while all good things must come to an end, our memories of times gone by can live forever in our hearts.

1. Like millions of Americans, Doris was caught up in the glory days of baseball in the 1950s, exhilarated by the Dodgers’ victories, and pained by each and every loss. Individual players became her heroes, as well-loved and respected as family and friends. How important is it for people—particularly children—to have such heroes to look up to? How can we feel such a strong kinship to people we have never met? Are sports figures the best role models? What lessons can athletes teach us about life?
   
2. Doris’s parents each pass on their own special gifts to their daughter. Through baseball, Mr. Kearns teaches Doris the importance of telling a story slowly, building the drama to a powerful crescendo. Through reading, Mrs. Kearns demonstrates the beauty of a well-chosen word and how a good book can take you away to places you might otherwise never go. Discuss how these gifts complement one another and how they
   came together to make Doris the historian and word-smith she is today.
   
3. In the 1950s, most fathers did not take their little girls to baseball games. How did you respond to the female point-of-view in this book? Did you see Doris as the son her father never had? Or was she an extension of his sister, Marguerite? What does Mr. Kearns’ relationship with Doris provide that he missed during his tragic childhood?
   
4. Although her childhood was marked by the untimely death of her mother, Doris paints a near-perfect picture of life in the suburbs. How does time affect our memories? Is it natural to “revise” our own personal history? Are we destined to recall the best times of our lives as rosier than they actually were?
   
5. Idolizing her team as only a child can, Doris was fortunate enough to have her childhood coincide with baseball’s most glorious heyday. Discuss the sport’s changing role in the American landscape through the second half of the 20th century. Does regional team loyalty still mean the same thing in today’s “global village,” or has the technology that has made our country seem smaller altered the notion of the “home team” ? What does baseball offer that other sports cannot? Is it still our true national pastime?
   
6. One of the most pleasant aspects of reading a well-written memoir is that it often helps you recall dim memories of your own. Did
   Wait Till Next Year
   spark any forgotten memories from your childhood? Did it remind you of special moments you shared with your parents, of family traditions that you enjoyed? Did this book inspire you to write down any of your own history to share with family members in years to come?
   
7. Doris says that her “early years were happily governed by the dual calendars of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Catholic Church.” In fact, Doris’s careful calculations of baseball scores and batting averages charmingly mirror the manner in which she tallies up her nightly prayers. Discuss the mingled roles of baseball and religion in Doris’s childhood. Was baseball a kind of secular worship for her? How are these different institutions similar to one another? What does each offer that the other does not?
   
8. Prior to television, Doris listened to baseball games on the radio, relying on her imagination for visual images to accompany the announcer’s play-by-play. This changed when the Kearnses bought their first television set and Doris was able to watch the games in the comfort of her own home. How did the addition of television change the face of baseball for Doris and other fans? How did it add to her enjoyment of the game? What did it take away?
   
9. When Doris’s sister, Jeanne, is selected as co-captain of the “Blue Team” in a girls’ athletic competition, Doris is able to witness first-hand the unification that results from competition. Jeanne serves as a role model for Doris, teaching her that sportsmanship and competition are not limited to the world of men. But these types of events for women were rare in the 1950s. What does this say about the culture of that time? Discuss the importance of women’s sports and how our society’s views on women’s athletics have changed. Have they changed enough? What do women miss when they are discouraged from participating in sports?
   
10. The landscape of Doris’s childhood remains intact through the first decade of her life, leaving her with a misguided notion that her world will never change.
    But by the time Doris reaches adolescence, everything that had seemed so permanent slowly begins to slip away. Longtime neighbors move, the Dodgers and the Giants leave New York, and, most important, Doris’s mother passes away. How does Doris react to these changes? Has the strong foundation her loving parents provided during her early years prepared her for these sudden changes?
    
11. An important rite of passage for all children is the moment when they first see their parents as real people, not the all-knowing figures they appear to be when we are very young. Childhood is never the same after you see a parent in a moment of weakness. How does Mrs. Kearns’ illness force Doris to grow up more quickly? How does it affect her childhood, her relationships with her parents? Can you recall the events that made you realize that your parents were, just like you, fallible and human?
    
12. In many ways, the Kearnses are a traditional, nuclear family of the 1950s, with the father playing the role of breadwinner and the mother keeping house. Yet, in many ways the Kearnses are quite progressive, teaching their daughters to reach as high as they can to fulfill their dreams. How is Doris different from the other girls on her block? Do her independence and faith in her abilities have their roots in her love of baseball?
    
13. Doris pays tribute to many of her female teachers in junior high and high school. Many of these women rose to the top of their field during World War II—and then refused to “go back home” when the war was over. Did you have any teachers who stand out in your mind as particularly inspiring? Share your own recollections of an important educator who encouraged you to be your best.
    
14. Doris stands out as a child not only for her ability to realize when she is observing history-in-the-making, but for her ability to see herself as
    part
    of it. Is this the result of her early love of reading, during which she actually inserted herself into the action of the stories she read? How does baseball play a role?
    
15. One of the most memorable scenes in
    Wait Till Next Year
    is when Doris and her young friends imitate the McCarthy hearings that have captivated the nation. What begins as fun and games ironically has the same result as the real hearings, driving neighborhood kids apart and provoking mean-spirited attacks. Discuss other important life lessons Doris learns through current events, such as the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement, the trial and execution of the Rosenbergs, and the escalation of tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. How does her interest in these events prepare her for her role as a historian?