Book tells of more innocent times

Ryan Carter

All Donald E. Palmer wanted to do was to share his life and dreams

with his children and grandchildren. But the 70-year-old Newport

Beach resident has turned a page -- make that 290 pages.

He’s publishing his experiences with the hope that a new

generation will get a taste of the story of 1950s America, told

through the eyes of a wannabe major leaguer who followed his high

school sweetheart cross the country.

“It was an age of innocence,” Palmer said from his apartment

overlooking the Back Bay.

Palmer’s new autobiographical, self-published book, “The Memorable

Fifties,” is a story that stems from his love for his high school

sweetheart, Arline, whom he met during a square dancing lesson in

junior high in Florida. Her parents moved to California, and Palmer

followed her while he pursued a dream to be a major league catcher.

Arline fell for him, and the two eloped in 1953. They are still

married. But along the way, Palmer -- echoing the experience of many

from his generation -- takes readers through his move to the West

Coast, recalling special teachers, schools, sports, parties, girls,

movies and drive-ins.

The journey was as much about pursuing his love as it was about

overcoming the challenge of having an alcoholic father, who left

raising a family in the hands of Palmer’s mother. Palmer said it was

she who held the family together. In the end, Palmer said, his latest

book is about reverence for God, family and country.

“I just feel the values we had are important, and they are being

deemphasized,” Palmer said.

The book, which comes on the heels of his first work, “Memories of

a Chattanooga Street Kid” about his childhood in Tennessee, resonates

with people his age.

But he hoped younger people would take an interest.

“I figured I wanted my kids to see how I grew up,” he said, adding

that he also had a dream to write a book.

His wife hoped the chapters would remind people of a time when the

country was booming after World War II, and people were full of hope.

“It brings back memories for people, and their lives back in the

‘50s,” Arline Palmer said. “It was a period of time with so much

excitement for our generation.”

Palmer is semi-retired from the business of distributing televised

religious programming. He still enjoys going home to share his

memories. He recently returned from four book-signings in his home

state, he said.

“They say you can’t go home again,” Palmer said. “I always say,

‘You can go home again if you write a book about it, then go back.’ ”

For more information about Palmer’s book, call him at (714)

394-9313 or e-mail to [email protected]. The book costs $24.95.