Grand Central Winter

Front Cover
Simon & Schuster, Nov 1, 1999 - Biography & Autobiography - 256 pages
In the underground tunnels below Grand Central Terminal, Lee Stringer -- homeless and drug-addicted over the course of eleven years -- found a pencil to run through his crack pipe. One day, he used it to write. Soon, writing became a habit that won out over drugs. And soon, Lee Stringer had created one of the most powerful urban memoirs of our time.

With humane wisdom and a biting wit, Lee Stringer chronicles the unraveling of his seemingly secure existence as a marketing executive, and his odyssey of survival on the streets of New York City. Whether he is portraying "God's corner", as he calls 42nd Street, or his friend Suzi, a hooker and "past-due tourist" whose infant he sometimes baby-sits; whether he recounts taking shelter underneath Grand Central by night and collecting cans by day, or making a living hawking Street News on the subway, Lee Stringer conveys the vitality and complexity of a down-and-out life. Rich with small acts of kindness, humor, and even heroism amid violence and desperation, GRAND CENTRAL WINTER offers a touching portrait of our shared humanity.

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Contents

Section 1
193
Section 2
203
Section 3
215

3 other sections not shown

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About the author (1999)

Lee Stringerlived on the streets from the early eighties until the mid-nineties. He is a former editor and columnist ofStreet News.His essays and articles have appeared in publications includingThe Nation, The New York Times,andNewsday.He collaborated with Kurt Vonnegut on the bookLike Shaking Hands With God: A Conversation About Writing.He lives in Mamaroneck, New York.

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