Jon Stratton is a cultural studies professor in Perth, Australia. His mother was Jewish and his father Christian. He grew up in England, not knowing anything about Judaism orYiddishkayt<\/em> (Jewishness).<\/p>\n I ordered<\/strong><\/span> Jon’s\u00a0 book on Amazon. In 2000<\/span> he \u201ccame out Jewish\u201d in multicultural academic circles, making a mark for himself by writing about \u201cghetto-thinking\u201d — Jewish anxiety, basically. \u00a0He said he had been slightly different from his friends in England because his mother had made him \u201cring home\u201d whenever he went out, while his chums never had to ring home.\u00a0 Jon\u2019s mother was an angst-ridden Jew from the Continent, he said.<\/p>\n My<\/em> mother, on the other hand, was from the Delta (the Mississippi Delta) and didn\u2019t worry much.\u00a0 My mother left me off at freeway exits to hitchhike.\u00a0 One trip I made a left on I-80 and wound up in South America. \u00a0She was even OK with that.<\/p>\n In 1990, at the Cleveland airport, I waited for my mom to arrive on the \u201csnowbird\u201d flight from Florida, and I let my then 9-year-old son run around the airport. \u00a0I told him, \u201cIf you wander off too far, you\u2019re going home on the Rapid.\u201d<\/p>\n He wandered<\/strong><\/span> off and I left him.<\/p>\n A Cleveland policeman called me a half hour later, and I had to go back to the airport — 20 miles one-way.\u00a0 The airport cop gave me a \u201cyou’re a douche bag\u201d smirk when I entered the airport police office. \u00a0The cop didn’t realize my son had practically memorized the Rapid Transit timetable and had ridden the complete Lee Road route.<\/p>\n I learned a lot about laissez-faire child rearing from my mom.\u00a0 The only thing Continental about her was her airline.<\/p>\n If<\/strong> <\/span>I<\/span><\/strong> ever get to Australia, I’ll buy Jon Stratton a beer, and we’ll talk about our mothers, I hope.\u00a0 We’re\u00a0 mishpocha<\/em>.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n Footnote: I\u2019m related to\u00a0 few Strattons because my father changed the family name from Soltzberg to Stratton in 1941.<\/small><\/p>\n —<\/span><\/p>\n Jack Stratton’s latest project. Also, check out the interactive map at Vulfpeck<\/span><\/a>, which shows you where Vulfpeck’s fan base is.![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.yiddishecup.com\/blog\/home\/yiddis6\/public_html\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/jon-stratton-calling-home1.jpg\" "\\"jon")
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