A Me Grows in Brooklyn - Memories of an Irish Childhood
Season 1
Oddjob
A Me Grows in Brooklyn
Memories of My Father
Pet Cemetery
Floaters
Street Fight
Twin Towers - A 9/11 Tribute
by Gerard Connelly
On Christmas Day in 1968, a five-year-old boy in Brooklyn unleashed a gift that would leave a lasting mark on his family. In this memoir chapter, a single childhood incident becomes the doorway into a bigger portrait of parents, grandparents, loss, and the complicated love that binds a family together. Equal parts funny, haunting, and deeply human, it’s a powerful listen
A Me Grows in Brooklyn is a memoir chapter that follows a boy’s transformation from a child in Brooklyn public housing into a more confident student shaped by family, school, neighbors, and the vivid personalities around him. The story moves from the family’s leap into homeownership on 83rd Street to Catholic school, eccentric teachers,, and the unusual kindness of a next-door neighbor who becomes one of the author’s most cherished early influences. Told with humor, sharp detail, and emotional honesty, it captures the making of a young life in a changing Brooklyn.
Memories of My Father is a deeply personal memoir chapter about a boy’s changing understanding of his father’s pain, struggle, and strength. Beginning with a frightening homecoming after his father’s psychiatric hospitalization, the story traces the effects of alcoholism, depression, family trauma, and resilience across the years, while also capturing the small rituals and shared moments that kept the bond between father and son alive. Honest, moving, and ultimately full of love, it’s a portrait of a damaged man who fought his way back and of the son who came to understand him more fully over time.
In this story, we return to 1970s Brooklyn for a funny, sharply observed portrait of family life, where the arrival of a new pet sets off a chain of domestic chaos. With warmth, wit, and vivid detail, the piece captures the unpredictable nature of childhood and the small, unforgettable moments that shape a household’s history.
In this next installment of Jerry Connelly’s autobiography, he spends a summer at a cottage in the Hamptons with his family, where the days are filled with beaches, rituals, and memories of his relatives, especially his Uncle Tom. But beneath the surface of the vacation runs a darker current, one that leaves him with a memory that will stay with him for life.
Life on 83rd Street in Bensonhurst revolves around stickball games, neighborhood friendships, and the unwritten rules of the block. But when Victor—a feared kid from outside the neighborhood—arrives with a reputation for violence and a habit of shaking down the kids on the street, the easy rhythms of childhood are disrupted. As Victor's influence grows, twelve-year-old Jerry is drawn toward an unavoidable confrontation that will test his courage and change the way he sees himself. Funny, suspenseful, and deeply personal, Street Fight captures a time when a Brooklyn block could feel like an entire world—and one afternoon could feel like a lifetime.
On the 25th anniversary of September 11, Twin Towers is a tribute to two towering figures in my life: my brother Frank Connelly and my uncle Artie Connelly. Both devoted their lives to the FDNY, and both found themselves at Ground Zero on 9/11—Frank as an active firefighter and Artie, already retired, returning to help the department he had served for four decades. Their intertwined stories are about courage, grit, family, and an extraordinary devotion to duty that endured long after the Twin Towers themselves were gone.
At fourteen, I was too homesick to stay at summer camp. But Buck and Beaver eventually gave me something I hadn’t known I needed: a glimpse of life beyond my familiar Brooklyn streets. Three years later, I was cycling across Canada, discovering freedom through new friendships, awkward encounters with girls, and adventures that sometimes veered dangerously off course. From camp cabins to Canadian roads, there were wrong turns, close calls, and extraordinary kindness from strangers. “Leaving Home” follows the summers that helped turn a sheltered boy into a more confident young man. It’s also a tribute to my parents, whose willingness to let me go made that growth possible—a gift I understood more fully when my own children left home.