The Sons of Starmount
Memoir of a Ten-Year-Old-Boy
The Sons of Starmount: Memoir of a Ten-Year-Old Boy is the story of a wild band of boys living on a once-in-a-lifetime street. Most of us have a time and place in our childhood that sets the course for the adult we grow up to be. I found mine: Starmount Drive, Tallahassee, Florida,1977.
Author Life
The Kids
“Elliott’s graceful prose is filled with the philosophical musings that come with the passage of four decades. And the joyful book is permeated with gentle humor that brings to life the exuberance of youth. Cheerful, more thoughtful than most reminiscences, and quite enjoyable.” – Kirkus Reviews, Dec. 2018
“Mark Elliott has transferred his brilliant writing of songs into a memoir that sings of the fun and adventures of childhood and the soulful lessons of life. This book will grab your heart, prompt your own childhood memories, and remind you that we are on one great ride called life.” – Donna Paz Kaufman - Story & Song Neighborhood Bookstore Bistro, Fernandina Beach, FL Dec. 2018
“Childhood memoirs and coming-of-age stories come and go, but ‘Sons of Starmount’ comes and stays. Elliott takes us back to the sweet smells of honeysuckle from his youth, and he doesn’t let us go until the last word has been written. Sons is a story about friendship, about growing up, about the poignancy and sometimes the pain of our youth. Elliott shares his story authentically and selflessly. His story doesn’t just belong to him. It belongs to all of us.” – Kristin Clark Taylor, award-winning author and journalist. December 2018
“I enjoyed this book immensely. As the stories unfold in masterful storytelling, I hear Mark Elliott's voice reading in my head with a style reminiscent of Mark Twain or Will Rogers. Many memories and images were recalled while being transported to a unique time. I highly recommend.” - Mack Bailey - Director, Music Therapy of the Rockies September 2019
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The Sons of Starmount: Memoir of a Ten-Year-Old Boy is the story of a wild band of boys living on a once-in-a-lifetime street. Most of us have a time and place in our childhood that sets the course for the adult we grow up to be. I found mine: Starmount Drive, Tallahassee, Florida,1977. Starmount is filled with poignant, hilarious, and soul-stirring stories of adventure and friendship, uniquely told through the prism of 1977. We were blood brothers on homemade rafts, defying alligators, water moccasins, and common sense. Muhammad Ali fought on the TV while we built boxing rings in the backyard. The Space Shuttle Enterprise shot through the heavens as we launched wooden spacecraft down metal guy wires from high atop our fort. The campfire-like glow of our streetlight hosted weighty conversations that ranged from remaining friends forever and finding all the best fishing holes on the planet Mars to Ted Bundy's murderous rampage through the Florida State campus. Starmount is in the tradition of other coming-of-age standards, such as The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson, Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sadaris, and Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son by Michael Chabon. It also captures elements of Southern life in a style akin to My Southern Journey: True Stories from the Heart of the South by Rick Bragg and The World's Largest Man by Harrison Scott Key.