After spending her entire childhood living in Clarendon Hills, Valerie Kuhn Reid never returnedafter graduating in 1976 from the University of Minnesota.
But despite being gone for so many years, Reid never forgot her former hometown and made it the setting of her book, “One Stop West of Hinsdale,” published last year.
Reid’s story is about the childhood turbulence she experienced while living in Clarendon Hills in the 1950s and her effort to understand choices made by her parents, after her father leaves and her mother experiences an emotional breakdown.
“I’ve wanted to write a book since I was 6,” Reid said. “I never thought I’d write a memoir.”
That changed while she worked on her master’s degree in writing and the teaching of writing, which she began in 2013.
“I realized that everything I was writing for my coursework — poems, essays, short stories — brought me back to 206 Grant Ave., Clarendon Hills, and a need to understand what happened to my family, how our ‘fairy tale family’ came to deteriorate.”
With that in mind, Reid chose the years 1960-1974 — while she was 7 through 20 — and “picked up the microscope to solve that mystery.”
“Those long ago years now make for an actual period piece, and I thought how my generation might really enjoy a book about the way the peaceful ’50s erupted into the turbulent ’60s, and might identify with my own story,” she said.
“At first I wanted to call it ‘Typical Girl from a ’60s Suburb’” because I believe my story is not all that unique.”
Her book follows the gradual demise of her own family and then goes on to portray how the fallout affected her as a teenager. It includes resolution, understanding, and redemption, she said.
Reid said she had such a wonderful experience as a student attending Walker School through sixth grade, she decided then she wanted to be a teacher.
Reid went on to Hinsdale Junior High and then Hinsdale Central, graduating in 1971. She attended the University of Illinois Champaign/Urbana as a college freshman, before finishing her undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota.
While there was turmoil in her family, Reid was very happy spending her childhood in Clarendon Hills.
“I loved everything,” she said. “As I say in my book, it was a fairy tale town. Anyone growing up in the ’50s and early ’60s anywhere in the USA probably has the same nostalgia and conviction that we grew up in the best of times. But my childhood on Grant Avenue, despite the fact that my parents’ marriage crumbled, was truly idyllic.”
Reid said she has fond memories of playing kick the can in the street and flashlight tag at night.
“We had bonfires on Saturday evenings up and down the street,” she said. “We played outside during all kinds of weather and only came in when our parents called us.”
Looking back now, Reid said the security and freedom stand out.
“I felt safe everywhere I went,” she said. “I felt free to roam everywhere at any time, with not a shred of fear. That fostered independence and confidence as I grew up.
“Looking back, I also feel privileged and lucky. I am grateful to my parents for raising us there. Being on the train line opened up Chicagoland to me, especially the museums and the theater.”
When she comes back now to visit Clarendon Hills, Reid said she is amazed how close everything is and how anything someone could want is at their fingertips.
Reid said she has a couple of friends living in nearby towns, but has not had family living in Clarendon Hills since 1982. But the thought of moving back has definitely crossed her mind.
“Now that I am 71, I muse about the interesting bookend idea of starting my life there and maybe completing it there,” Reid said. “I feel a sense of peace whenever I return, which is about twice a year. A certain sense of ‘being home,’ despite all the changes, is still in my soul.”
Reid was back in Clarendon Hills April 10 for a discussion about her book at the Clarendon Hills Public Library.
“One Stop West of Hinsdale” took her about six years from start to finish and an additional two years to figure out self-publishing and make choices around that, Reid said.
“I wrote the first draft quickly, in about a year,” she said. “But then it occurred to me I should be speaking to my long-dead dad, rather than the reader. As soon as I started rewriting, I saw immediately it was an excellent choice, and I rewrote the whole book with that voice.
Reid said maybe the best part of her experience with the book has been responses she has received from readers who feel a strong connection with her story because it’s in some way their story, too.
“Or even if it isn’t their story at all, they have been moved emotionally and write to share that with me,” she said. “I can’t describe how gratifying and heartwarming that is for me. It makes it all worthwhile.”
While this was her first published book, Reid said she has plans to write more.
“I have another book in me,” she said. “A novel, this time, not a memoir. It’s pretty much written in my head.”
“One Stop West of Hinsdale” can be purchased at online booksellers, through Reid’s website, www.valeriekuhnreid.com, and at Yankee Peddler, 30 E. Hinsdale Ave., Hinsdale. It is also on the shelves of various local libraries.
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter.
