By Mark Ambrogi
To Larry Moran, growing up as the second-oldest of 10 children was akin to being in large litter of puppies around feeding time.
“When trying to get food, there was extreme chaos with lots of shoving, but after dinner, everyone got along with plenty of playfulness,” Moran said.
“Laughing through Life” is a collection of humorous stories Moran collected about his family while growing up in Carmel. This is the second book written by Moran, who now lives in Bowie, Md.
“The first one was all fiction. This is mostly true,” Moran said. “One of the major reasons I included fiction is several of the stories have different versions, depending who is telling the story.”
Moran, who turns 72 Dec. 28, said his family moved to Carmel in 1951, when the population was approximately 1,000 people.
“It was growing rather rapidly through the 1950s,” said Moran, who graduated from Carmel High School in 1962 in a class of 97 students.
Moran worked as a sportswriter for The Indianapolis Times, which folded in 1965, and worked with papers in Kokomo, Muncie and Bloomington. Moran went on to work 33 years for the federal government.
“My job was to provide the (economic) data and explain it to journalists,” said Moran, who retired in 2004.
Seven of Moran’s siblings live in Indiana, including one in Zionsville.
“We couldn’t afford to go on vacations,” Moran said. “But once a week during the summer months, (my dad) would take a day off and take the family to a state park. We would explore trails, play games and have a cookout. My mom and dad have passed away, but we’ve kept up the family tradition. Once a year we all get together at a state park for a family reunion in June.”
The book is available through amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com
