Looking Up at the World Growing up Greek in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s

by Kourabas, Nicholas C.

• ISBN13: 9798986368221
• ISBN10: 8986368226
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2025-06-12
• Publisher: BookBaby

Summary

A memoir about Nick Kourabas', aka "Nicky", first 18 years of life. We follow young Nicky as he ventures from the comfort of his loving family and home into encounters with the larger, sometimes scary, funny and confounding world. Follow him through Greek School, the Greek Orthodox church, playing New York City street games, working in his dad's business, dealing with a sudden hospitalization at almost 10-years-old, and many other events both large and small. Watch as Nick finds his stride as he enters late adolescence. Nick tells of his journey through his sexual awakening and overhearing his uncle talk about who he might become and how to make the most of those experiences. These stories unfold against the backdrop of some major historical events, such as the assassination of JFK and the arrival of The Beatles. Nick battles his own thoughts and prejudices as we watch him learn about the large world before him and eventually reach "eye level" with it.

Author Biography

Nick Kourabas is a retired high school English teacher and school counselor, whose career in education spanned over four decades. A storyteller for anyone who will listen, Nick believes that every person on the planet has a story to tell and "Looking Up at the World" is his second book dealing with that story. His first memoir, "A Teaching Life", published in 2022, told of his professional career. "Looking Up..." concerns itself with Nick's early life, growing up in New York City. Nick and his wife, Deborah, live in Scituate Massachusetts, in order to be closer to their children, granddaughter and granddogs. Nick is a pretty good bowler, a terrible golfer and loves the seaside living that Scituate has to offer.