The Street Sweeper

The issues that plagued Chicago during the 1960s irked Frank Ardito.

He is not sure why he was bothered by these issues, but felt compelled to do something about it.

Now, 50 years later, he has compiled stories from his efforts given to the city into a book titled “The Street Sweeper – The Chicago Riots That Almost Happened and Other Untold Urban Accounts.”

The book is a memoir of sorts, telling Ardito’s attempts to handle a number of social issues in several of Chicago’s inner city communities during the turbulent 1960s.

“It’s a personal journey,” Ardito said. “There were three or four social problems that for whatever reason bothered me. My feelings about some of those problems were based upon my own unobstructed views of what was going on in our society.”

In particular, Ardito was troubled by the street gang violence, poverty and the race discrimination and conflict in the city. Ardito served a 33-year tenure with the city, including a position with the Chicago Commission on Youth Welfare’s Community Organization Division, which allowed him to work intensively in several of the city’s inner city communities.

“I was so happy when I became employed with them. Their nature of work was such where it threw me into inner city communities. We had areas of the city where the lines were drawn, a ‘battlefield’ that you could not cross. Things like that bothered me; I don’t know why they bothered me, but they did.”

A lot of the book is drawn from what he can remember, as the records about events at the time “no longer exist,” according to Ardito.

“I tried some years ago to get the records, but they are all gone,” he said. “I tried to recollect things the best I can. I reflect as much as possible and attempted to put them in some order.

“The book really is a capsule because there’s so much I had to leave out or decided to leave out…I just had to decide where I would start and where I would end up. At the bottom was the belief that it was a story that needed to be told. I wanted people to know,” he said.

While the publication of the book was not planned, with Ardito stating he did not write the book about what is happening in the city right now, he noted the significance that his book is published at the same time as what the city is re-experiencing today.

“I’m not saying it’s the same level, but they’re experiencing it again,” he said.

“The Street Sweeper” is currently available through VesuviusPress.com only for $14.95, but Ardito is trying to get physical copies in stores. He has held some conversations with local bookshops, including the local Barnes & Noble, but “cannot confirm anything at the moment.”

Additionally, as he lives in Sun City, Ardito said he is willing and able to hold group presentations and signings for the various clubs or organizations in the community that would be willing to have him.

For more information about “Street Sweeper,” visit VesuviusPress.com or contact Ardito at ardito13024@comcast.net or 847-659-8119.

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