Xlibris-Published Author Launches Memoir Set in the Sixties’ Philly Warzone

Xlibris-published author Kevin Purcell recently self-published his memoir Philly Warzone, contrasting the years of his carefree and frivolous childhood against his turbulent adolescent years going into the 1960’s race-driven sectarian violence.

“To face so much danger at such a young age was a story that needed to be told,” shares Purcell. 

The Xlibris-published author operates a home-based advertising practice based in Philadelphia. The seed for his book was planted over fifteen years ago as a side project written during downtimes in between assignments. But as his advertising business came to a virtual standstill in the Great Recession of 2008, he started working on his book full-time and became an Xlibris-published author four years later.
“My chief aspiration for writing the book was to try to paint a picture with words for my children, and the children of my four brothers, so they could understand what our childhood was like, good and bad,” the Xlibris-published author reveals.

The Xlibris-published author’s memoir vividly captures the tense atmosphere of the time, with harrowing narratives on how everyday activities like traveling back and forth to school and meeting up with friends required so much planning.

“These are activities most young kids don’t think twice about. Yet, for us, during those years in that neighborhood, every move we made had to be calculated if we wanted to stay out of harm’s way,” the Xlibris-published author observes.

The public’s reaction to Philly Warzone has been overwhelming. “I have received hundreds of texts, emails, and Facebook posts from friends, family, and total strangers who have praised the book,” adds the Xlibris-published author.

“I’ve been particularly touched by many readers who lived through those dangerous years with me. So many have thanked me for capturing the essence of what those times were like. Many have said that now, at last, they can just hand my book to others and say, “Read this. This is what it was like.”