Everything Was Different

Before graduating from LAHS, I was required to give a presentation in my English class about what I wanted to do with my life. I chose 'Become Famous' (I'm not lying) and outlined the many different ways in which that could happen. Along with a paper, cited sources, and oral presentation, an interview was also to be performed with someone in a related field. Since Lewistown had no movie stars or famous musicians, I chose Matt Wagner, a comic book writer and artist that was, strangely, living in my town while working on a book called 'Mage' for Dark Horse Comics. I found Matt's name in the local phone book and (probably) freaked him out when I called to ask about his life, his income, and his fame. My results weren't as glamorous as I wanted them to be so, for the sake of graduation, I just made things up. Mrs. Everhart, I'm sorry for lying. I know you're probably sitting at home, reading my blog, crying about this while simultaneously picking out all of my punctuation errors, but, let's face it: You loved having me as a student.  You allowed my senior project to be 'Become Famous.' You were going to pass me anyway.

And now that all my dirty laundry has been aired, let's focus our attention on today's find.

 Everything Was Different is comprised of interviews done by a group of very honest & trustworthy Hunter High School students in the Spring of 1986. Their objective was to talk with Seniors affiliated with the Stanley Isaacs Center Neighborhood Center in New York as a way to challenge age segregation. This booklet, which, I'm assuming, saw very limited publication, is a collection of said interviews--uncensored and typed exactly as spoken.

The seniors--and participating students--are identified in the front of the book, but their names are missing from the interview exerts in the pages that following. They were asked a range of topics, including (but not limited to) War, Work, and Segregation.

Incredibly interesting. But, did I really need to tell you that?



It's hard pricing an item like this. It's uncommon but I doubt anyone (before this post, of course) would come in asking specifically for it. For now, it remains in the Mowery Collection*.

Suggestion: Read 'The Contract With God Trilogy' by Will Eisner. It's a fantastic look at how old neighborhoods came about. I kept referring back to Eisner while I read Everything Was Different. Even if you have no interest in this sort of thing, check it out anyway. The man was a genius.

*Mowery Collection is housed in my work desk. Example: "Would you like to come down to Old Editions and check out 'The Mowery Collection?' It's kept in Eric's desk. It's just the things he has found since he began working there. He keeps all of it locked away in 'The Keep.' Which is his desk."