Woodholme

by DeWayne Wickham

DeWayne Wickham was just eight years old when his father murdered his mother and then killed himself. Woodholme is his poignant memoir about growing up haunted by this traumatic event, and how he eventually overcame the reality of their loss. A troublemaker in school who nearly ended up in jail, DeWayne found a home among the black caddies at an all-white Jewish country club in suburban Baltimore - Woodholme - an oasis from the strife of the civil rights era and his own problem-plagued life. The encounters he had there helped him to accept responsibility as an unwed seventeen-year-old father, and finally to come to terms with the death of his parents. Gracefully written and wryly humorous, Woodholme is an evocative portrait of growing up black in the 1960s, a sensitive exploration of paternalism and paternity, and a deeply moving story of self-discovery.