Under the Viaduct
Under the Viaduct
Under the Viaduct - Memories of Life in the Manor and Beyond
by Debra Kaplan Low
(Book Street Press)
Growing Up in the Shadow of Chicago's Viaducts. Drawing from a colorful cast of characters ranging from childhood friends to the mostly bald, one-legged lady everyone tries to avoid to a father with a severe anger problem, Debra Kaplan Low shares intimate stories about her life growing up in the early 1950s to 1970 in the Manor, a south Chicago neighborhood delineated by the city's system of viaducts. She discusses environmental and health hazards that affected the Manor, an area built on landfill contaminated with toxic waste from nearby steel mills and chemical plants. Additionally, Low describes how the Manor was affected by significant social changes that culminated in "white flight" following the brutal murder of eight student nurses and the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Her story explores both sides of the viaducts and continues into her adult experiences with Chicagoans in Arizona.
Book Details
Publication Date: September 30, 2021
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-58985-245-7
eBook ISBN: 978-1-58985-247-1
Trim Size: 6 in. x 9 in. / 164 pages / black and white interior
The eBook is available for purchase from Amazon.
Shipping
We are only able to ship products to addresses in the U.S. and Canada. There is a $5.00 shipping fee for shipments within the United States. Shipping is also available to Canada for an additional fee.
What folks are saying …
“It was a joy to read Under the Viaduct: Memories from the Manor and Beyond by Debra Kaplan Low. In addition to sharing stories about her life under the viaduct, Debra gives readers history lessons about Chicago, Jewish traditions, race in Chicago, and more. Her sense of humor and creative wordplay add an extra level of engagement to this captivating read. As I read this book, I felt like I knew Debra personally.
Debra describes Jeffrey Manor as a “paradise within the confines of a neighborhood.” It was refreshing to read firsthand accounts about the manor’s people, places, and activities that shaped Debra’s life. The residents were close because of their shared housing, experiences, and relationships. They didn’t have a lot of money, but they had each other. They knew intimate details about each other, supported each other, and created bonds that remain strong today. The viaduct played a major role in creating this close-knit community.
To the average person, viaducts are structures that support railroads. In the manor, the viaduct was the great divider. It divided the community into north and south regions, separating people based on class and income. The north side residents were “more well-educated, wealthier, professional white folks” that lived in single-family homes. Residents in the south manor were blue and white-collar workers that lived in “almost identical and very affordable duplex and row houses.” This viaduct is a physical reflection of the invisible barrier that separates Chicago’s north and south sides today. The north side has mostly white residents with higher incomes, better schools, high-value housing options, retailers and grocery stores within walking distance, and financial support from political officials. Most of the south side is occupied by middle class, working-class and low-income people of diverse races, lower home values, poorer schools, food, and pharmacy deserts, and has received little financial support from elected officials.”
—Marcie Hill, Windy City Reviews
”OMG—I got Debra Kaplan Low's book Under the Viaduct in the mail today and it's fabulous. What a storyteller and it's laugh out loud funny. I had no idea the manor was build on a toxic landfill. Maybe that's why I had asthma growing up. Get her book!”
—Lynn Chapman
“One need not be Jewish, a Baby Boomer, or a South-Sider Chicagoan to appreciate and identify with Debra Low’s well-crafted memoir about growing up Chicago Style. This memoir is a perfect mix of pathos, humor, and socio-cultural savvy. Her literary chops flow from the sacred to the profane! It’s just my kinda read!…”
—Jennie Hermey
“Debra Kaplan Low. Just finished your book. It brought back so many memories. I thoroughly enjoyed it from cover to cover. From the manor to pill hill to Bowen High School and beyond, it was so fun seeing it all through your eyes. Thanks for helping me re-live my youth.”
—Ilene Brown Shapiro
Special Recognition
2021 Southwest Book Design and Production Awards, Finalist, Memoir
2022 Eric Hoffer Award da Vinci Eye Finalist
2022 Eric Hoffer Award Grand Prize Short List
2022 Eric Hoffer Award, Honorable Mention, Memoir
About the Author
Debra (Debbie) Kaplan Low earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in communications from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Debbie and Stuart moved to Arizona in 1979 when Stu joined the Arizona State University (ASU) faculty as an assistant professor in the Department of Economics. For several years, Debbie held a dual position as an adjunct faculty member in the College of Business at ASU in both the Marketing Department and in Health Services Administration where she taught marketing communications and health care marketing classes and conducted research on hospice services in Arizona. She has coauthored scholarly articles in academic journals based on findings from this research, as well as case studies later published in marketing and management textbooks.
Debbie went on to earn master’s degrees from ASU in Health Services Administration in the College of Business, and in Counseling Psychology. She retired in 2014 from private practice psychotherapy after specializing in adult and couples therapy, with special interests in bipolar disorders, personality disorders and neuropsychology. Previously, she was a medical/health care consultant in Arizona for almost 20 years. In that capacity, she provided management and marketing consulting services to hospitals, medical groups, and tertiary care facilities throughout Arizona. She also published articles in Arizona Medicine and other professional journals related to medical management issues.
In Arizona, Debbie has served on the boards of directors of East Valley Hospice, Samaritan Hospice, Hospice of the Valley, the Area Agency on Aging, and Save the Family Foundation of Arizona. She has also written two children’s books that await publication.
Debbie and Stu are the parents of Dr. David Low, a tenured associate professor of education at California State University, Fresno. David, his wife Katie, their daughter Ellie, and a newborn daughter, Lexie, live in Fresno.
