Mama's Boy

Mama's Boy describes the life of author Robert Hood: his early years in a coal-mining village during the Depression, his life in the navy during World War II, and his later professional success. At the heart of Hood's memoir is his proud and talented mother, who is determined that her headstrong son will become somebody. But the impish boy is more interested in sports than poetry recitations or declamation contests. Anxious to enter the war, seventeen-year-old Hood enlists in the U.S. Navy in 1944 and serves on Guam. He returns, attends college, and eventually ends up in New York City as the editor-in-chief of Boys' Life Magazine. As Hood achieves success, he meets some of the distinguished artists and authors of the twentieth century. He lunches with Andre Kertesz, Alex Haley, and Isaac Asimov; takes tea with Salvador Dali and Philippe Halsman; and chats on the phone with Margaret Coit, Catherine Drinker Bowen, and Margaret Bourke-White. He also interviews great athletes such as Hank Greenberg, Mickey Mantle, and Willie Mays.

But most important to Hood are those people in his family who mentored him so well. Mama's Boy pays tribute to his parents, grandparents, siblings, uncles, and aunt. His love for them bears witness to the endurance of human memory.