Foster's Store

By Wayne Eliot Lankford, Bob O'Kelley, M. Walter Carmichael

Book Overview

.Foster's Store is about coming of age. It is as much about wild parties and college life as it is about a place in history where a generation had it all, but at the same time, all turned out to be so... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0974512524
• ISBN13: 9780974512525
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Oak Valley Press
• Length: 460 Pages
• Weight: 1.77 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Been there, Done that, can still remember some of it...

I started school at West Georgia College Fall of 1967 and going off and on finally graduated Fall of 1974. I never lived at Foster's Store and don't think I ever even went inside but I was part of the overall culture that was going on at that time. Some of my art is printed in the book and I'm the passed out drunk on page 161. The book paints a realistic portrait of what life was like at that time for kids living away from home for the first time and testing the waters to see how much they could get away with. There were many fun times and some very dark scary times but overall I'm glad I was there and would not trade my experiences for anything. Oh, and by the way, I managed to get an education while I was there too.... sorta. Philip DeLoach

This is what people you know were like in college

Full disclosure- I'm related to one of the contributers. But on its own merits, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The semi-scattered, collaborative nature of the book gives it a warm authenticity and made me nostalgic for times I wasn't alive to see. It is part wartime letter collection (both from those who went to Vietnam and those who declined the government's kind offer), part fireside chat, and part trip down a hallucinagenic memory lane. Good times, good book. Bill (Son of the one Carmichael that DIDN'T go to WGC)

Great Book

What a wonderful book this is ..... I truly enjoyed reading it and feel as though I know each one of you from Foster's Store .... I envy your journeys and the friendships you forged from that experience ...... but it brought back so very many memories from my times back then ...... THOSE WERE THE DAYZ in many ways - but you were able to bring to life the reality of the drug scene and the personal demons it held for so many ...... as well as the Vietnam War and the impact it had on those dear, young men back then - with their fears and uncertainty of their futures .... the lives lost will never be forgotten! The funny times were so entertaining and I really laughed over the trips for booze and the parties you had .... the cole slaw story was a favorite!! I'll never eat it again without thinking of you, Wayne! Thanks again for this wonderful adventure .... and I will share this with all my friends so they can buy the book for themselves - my copy is much too precious to loan out ! PEACE and LOVE to all ...... Sandi Farinas Tampa, Florida

An Alumni Reflects On Foster's Store

By Terri Rimmer In Foster's Store by West Georgia College graduate Wayne Lankford we are treated to a cornucopia of treasured memories in a coming of age tale that depicts what life was like for students living in a converted country store and the escapades that went on in the dorm residence of sorts. As an alum of the college this book brings to me such vivid portrayals of love and adventure and relishes the past in a way that can only be captured by someone who lived it such as the author. L.R. Foster, owner of the mom and pop grocery, who lived to be 97, welcomed its first tenants to the store and house in 1966, the year I was born. As the book states, so many of us did leave the school with more than an education and the rich retellings of these 1960s and 1970s antics and comings of age smoothly display to the reader all that was and can be. Despite the fact that students now lived in the store during these decades, numerous vendors like the ice cream man would continue to try to deliver goods to the store turned housing unit. One episode that happened in the residence involved a tenant getting a little too wasted and proceeding to preach after having accidentally attended a Pentecostal tent revival. This excerpt reminds me of the glory days of the 1980s when my newspaper staff friends and I had our weekly parties and Tray Baggarly, the leader of the pack, would engage the entire party with something just as revealing. The tenants at Foster's Store, who at one point, made their own Den of Inequity by raising the floor and installed carpet in the residence, only had to pay $35 for rent - astounding, to say the least! From partying, to selling your class ring at the local pawn shop to keep your buzz going with a six-pack of beer and some Orange Sunshine, these were students with excitement yet purpose in their lives, all the while playing, debating, discovering, and rallying against the war as well as trying their hand at cooking in the old store. Numerous other alumni contributed to the book as well and their stories are thick with store mate images. Pictures throughout the book depict a life rich with fun, antics, relationships, and pushing the limits, all in the name of rediscovering one's path.

FOSTER'S STORE IS TERRIFIC

I just finished Foster's Store - could not put it down - and it was wonderful! Wayne Langford and some of his former college cronies from the late 60s and early 70s have created the most refreshing and original book I have read in years. It is hilarious, yet provides an insightful and sobering look at a generation that grew up being drilled by elementary school teachers on what to do in the event of a nuclear attack by the Commies. Because of totally honest writing, I can feel the sense of youth, freedom, adventure and awe that the authors enjoyed while at Foster's Store. But, I can also feel the confusion, fear and dread these young men endured as a result of the unprecedented contradictions that defined the era. And, I know I can smell the stale beer that must still permeate the ruins of old man Foster's former store turned student housing commune. I miss that smell. This book would make a great movie! The story is far richer and more real than Animal House.