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Behind the gentle sadness of such songs as Old Black Joe, My Old Kentucky Home and Old Folks At Home, lies the dreaming, home-loving spirit of the man who wrote them-Stephen Collins Foster. Behind the rollicking tunes with which these were interspersed lies all the fun-loving gayety which so richly colored and warmed young Stephy's happy companionship with his devoted older brother, Mit, throughout their happy boyhood... Here in this story of a typical American boyhood are quick, intimate glimpses of young Stephen as he trotted off to the Negro church beside Lieve, the Negro bound girl; as he played with his beloved dog; and raced along beside a minstrel band. Here is the young boy, growing up with music in his heart and a warm, out-reaching friendliness for everyone with whom he came in contact, a boy who becomes vividly alive in the pages of a most delightful book... There is much more in this book than the engaging story of the young Stephen Foster, and his never-to-be-forgotten music. In this appealing, sensitive biography of the composer whose folk songs are our common heritage, is told one of the real stories of our own America.
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