Two Mills and Norristown
The imaginary town of Two Mills is based on Jerry Spinelli’s childhood town of Norristown, PA. Spinelli has said that material from the story was inspired by his childhood experiences there, and a number of geographical correspondences confirm this. Norristown, like Two Mills, is across the Schuylkill River from Bridgeport, and neighboring towns include Conshohocken, Jeffersonville and Worcester, all of which are mentioned in the novel. The Elmwood Park Zoo is in Norristown, and Valley Forge, where Maniac wanders, is nearby as well.
Read more about this topic: Maniac Magee
Famous quotes containing the word mills:
“The logical English train a scholar as they train an engineer. Oxford is Greek factory, as Wilton mills weave carpet, and Sheffield grinds steel. They know the use of a tutor, as they know the use of a horse; and they draw the greatest amount of benefit from both. The reading men are kept by hard walking, hard riding, and measured eating and drinking, at the top of their condition, and two days before the examination, do not work but lounge, ride, or run, to be fresh on the college doomsday.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)