On the cusp of becoming a teenager, Charlie Gargiulo lived through the planned destruction of the Little Canada neighborhood of Lowell, Mass., in the 1960s. This is his story. He went on to become a legendary community organizer who led efforts to ensure people would have decent housing and a fair chance to earn a living and make a happy life for themselves.
Book endorsement
Charlie Gargiulo has unearthed for us a time capsule of treasurestreasures of family, community, and connectedness buried deep by the heartless blows of Urban Renewals wrecking ball. With his technicolor remembrances of long-gone neighborhood characters and a wry kids-eye-view, we get to navigate the gritty and wondrous streets of Lowells Little Canada, excavating young Charlies loss and grief as well as his hard-won sense of solidarity, ethical persistence, and justice.Legends of Little Canadais a universal story youll want to share across divides of geography, ethnicity, and generation.
Michael Patrick MacDonald, author ofAll Souls: A Family Story from Southie
WithLegends of Little Canada, Charlie Gargiulo joins Mark Twain, Thomas Wolfe, and J.D. Salinger in the great American tradition of coming-of-age sagas. A boy struggles in a confusing world of urban violence, family breakdown, and humiliation by heartless government bureaucrats and teachers to become a man.
Charles Glass, author ofAmericans in Paris,Deserters,andThey Fought Alone
Charlie Gargiulos memoir of growing up in a working-class family in Lowell, Mass., is a poignant story of heartachesand triumphs.He saw the Little Canada neighborhood he grew up in get demolished for urban renewal.When he was an adult, when the same plans of demolition and displacement were announced for the Acre neighborhood of Lowell, Charlie organized the Coalition for a Better Acre (CBA) to successfully prevent this and to then lead the renewal of that neighborhood for people of lower incomes including many immigrants.CBA continues as one of the most effective community development organizations in the state. Charlies story is one of leadership, commitment, resilience, and visionto provide thriving and affordable neighborhoods.
Lew Finfer, Massachusetts Communities Action Network
-- Lew Finfer