Looking for Cornbread

The Illinois State Historical Society has deemed Looking for Cornbread, Coming of Age in Small town America, Circa 1950-60s, to be of historical significance and will present Mr. Paradis with the 2022 ISHS "Best of Illinois History" award recognizing his contribution to Illinois history in the previous calendar year in Springfield, Illinois, on April 9, 2022. The author's story begins in a cramped apartment above an auto repair shop in Wataga, Illinois. An alcoholic, frequently violent father, hops from one manual labor job to another before landing the family in the small town of Avon. It is in this community where the boy grows from the age of five to early manhood and where he is imprinted with the beginnings of his worldview. At an early age he encounters abuse, loneliness and a sense of alienation toward both community and family. Yet this is not a sob story. There is much joy, devilish humor, and even vivid descriptions of small-town life that are some of the most enjoyable aspects of the story. As a bonus, the narrative repeatedly makes a direct connection to the dynamics of the 2020s, showing how the forces leading up to today have impacted the life of those earlier decades. As Dr. Linda Tucker states in the book's insightful Foreword: "In its own right, the book is a study of class, gender, and racial dynamics in that mid 20th century milieu." A benevolent autopsy, as it were, of a previous nuclear community becomes part of the narrative, showing the "idyllic" side of life back in the day along with the excesses of human nature that are present in all communities. The narrative is at its most powerful when exposing (again to use Dr. Tucker's words) the "toxic masculinity" that was undeniably present then in many families and communities—and is arguably still present today. In sum, this memoir is a rich, detailed and gritty account of a past era, wrapped around a story of triumph, where a young man had every encouragement to fail and did so repeatedly—before finding his cornbread.