Cultural Writing. Memoir. Jewish studies. Born in 1936 to an Iraqi father and Syrian mother who had immigrated to the United States, Jack Marshall grew up in Brooklyn's Sephardic community. Inspired by the posthumous discovery of letters written by his father but never mailed, and colored equally by Arabic culture, Jewish tradition, and a thriving American metropolis, Marshall's memoir is a lyrical story of an era, a city, a little-know community, and an artist's coming-of-age. As Marshall evokes the magic of youth and discovery, he creates a moving tribute to the power of literature and its place in furthering his negotiation of language, culture, family strife, and issues of education, faith, and politics. A critically acclaimed poet, Marshall has received a PEN Center USA West Award, two Bay Area Book Reviewers Awards, and was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.