--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was writing - at least beginning to…" description: "\"I was writing - at least beginning to write Boston Boy and there were a lot of holes in my so-called research. I didn't know the towns my mother and fa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7a/nat-hentoff-1615_boston_i-was-writing-at-least-beginning-to-writ_1430385.png" --- # I was writing - at least beginning to write Boston Boy and… ![“I was writing - at least beginning to write Boston Boy and there were a lot of holes in my so-called research. I didn't know the towns my mother and father came from in Russia. I didn't know the name of the clothing store I went to work for when I was 11 years old. I didn't know a lot of things…” quote by Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7a/nat-hentoff-1615_boston_i-was-writing-at-least-beginning-to-writ_1430385.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7a/nat-hentoff-1615_boston_i-was-writing-at-least-beginning-to-writ_1430385.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7a/nat-hentoff-1615_boston_i-was-writing-at-least-beginning-to-writ_1430385.png) > “I was writing - at least beginning to write Boston Boy and there were a lot of holes in my so-called research. I didn't know the towns my mother and father came from in Russia. I didn't know the name of the clothing store I went to work for when I was 11 years old. I didn't know a lot of things. So I called for my FBI files, not expecting to have that stuff there, but I wanted to know what they had on me.But they did have the towns my mother and father lived in in Russia. They had the grocery store I worked in when I was 11 years old.” [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author discovers that official records reveal personal family details he had forgotten, highlighting how bureaucratic archives can fill gaps in personal memory. **In simple terms:** Official records can remind us of forgotten personal history. Key Takeaway Check archives to uncover hidden personal facts. Themes memory identity history bureaucracy family Mood reflective curious nostalgic Type personal historical research When to use this quote - family genealogy research - personal history projects - writing memoirs - academic research - self‑discovery Key Concepts genealogy archival research personal narrative Questions to Reflect On - What personal details have you forgotten? - How reliable are official records for personal history? A Different Perspective Records may be incomplete or inaccurate, leading to false assumptions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boston/) [Boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boys/) [Called Fbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/called-fbi-1730992/) [Clothing Store](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clothing-store/) [Clothings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clothings/) [Expecting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expecting/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Fbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fbi/) [Fbi Files](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fbi-files-1301948/) [Files](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/files/) [Groceries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/groceries/) [Grocery store](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grocery-store/) [Grocery stores](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grocery-stores/) [Holes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holes/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Mother and father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother-and-father/) [Names](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/names/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Research Didn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research-didn-5091754/) [Russia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/russia/) [Stores](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stores/) [Stuff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stuff/) [Towns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/towns/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) [Wanted Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted-know/) [Write Boston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-boston-5091753/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [The government and its prosecutors are continually trying to block my efforts to win my freedom and expose their judicial wrong doings; they systematically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-peltier/the-government-and-its-prosecutors-are-continually-trying-to-block-my/) [Leonard Peltier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-peltier/) > [“On June 20, 1951, less than four weeks after the Homer case broke, Hoover escalated the FBI’s Sex Deviates Program. 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A college student named Beatrice Arnold called the FBI hotline to report she’d sold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-fitzsimmons/the-first-break-in-the-case-came-on-day-six-a-college-student-named/) [Matthew FitzSimmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-fitzsimmons/) > [Working at a clothing store really shows you how lazy, slobby, and inconsiderate people are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/working-at-a-clothing-store-really-shows-you-how-lazy-slobby-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My husband had a clothing store in Paris, and I had his factory make specifically for me something similar to the one I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-rykiel/my-husband-had-a-clothing-store-in-paris-and-i-had-his-factory-make/) [Sonia Rykiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-rykiel/) > [There's nothing like a string of Xmas lights inside the house to make the whole family feel like they live in a vintage clothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-gould/there-s-nothing-like-a-string-of-xmas-lights-inside-the-house-to-make/) [Dana Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-gould/) > [Dash is not for my clothing store, as some people have suggested online. That would be stupid. Dash is short for Kardashian, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kourtney-kardashiany/dash-is-not-for-my-clothing-store-as-some-people-have-suggested/) [Kourtney Kardashiany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kourtney-kardashiany/) > [I went into a clothing store, and the lady asked me what size I was. I said, 'Actual'. I'm not to scale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demetri-martin/i-went-into-a-clothing-store-and-the-lady-asked-me-what-size-i-was-i/) [Demetri Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demetri-martin/) > [When I was 18 years old, I had a Saturday job working in a clothing store on London's Bond Street. I would fold T-shirts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kayvan-novak/when-i-was-18-years-old-i-had-a-saturday-job-working-in-a-clothing/) [Kayvan Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kayvan-novak/) > [“I’ve been that girl, too big for the clothes in the store, just trying to find something, anything, that fits, while also dealing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-ve-been-that-girl-too-big-for-the-clothes-in-the-store-just-trying/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [Bop began with Jazz but one afternoon somewhere on a sidewalk maybe 1939, 1940, Dizzy Gillespie or Charlie Parker or Thelonious Monk was walking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/bop-began-with-jazz-but-one-afternoon-somewhere-on-a-sidewalk-maybe/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [I worked at a clothing store once called Body. It was the coolest clothing store in the Valley. My dad made us sign a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-kardashian/i-worked-at-a-clothing-store-once-called-body-it-was-the-coolest/) [Kim Kardashian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-kardashian/) > [“A villager named Avery moved into town and started up a fashion clothing store. She said that fashion was her passion, and that she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-the-noob/a-villager-named-avery-moved-into-town-and-started-up-a-fashion/) [Steve the Noob](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-the-noob/) ## More by Nat Hentoff > [My parents were Orthodox Jews but not very regular Orthodox Jews. I was bar mitzvahed and all that. But God was hardly ever mentioned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/my-parents-were-orthodox-jews-but-not-very-regular-orthodox-jews-i/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [There are enough people who are starting to be actively involved that we can turn things around. And we need to encourage others to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/there-are-enough-people-who-are-starting-to-be-actively-involved-that/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [ \[Margot Hentoff\] thinks - first of all, she - this I hear from a lot of people beside her. She thinks that men have… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/margot-hentoff-thinks-first-of-all-she-this-i-hear-from-a-lot-of/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [My father was pretty independent. He was - he was arrested once in Nashville when he was on one of his sales trips because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/my-father-was-pretty-independent-he-was-he-was-arrested-once-in/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [ My chronology is terrible. \[Work with William Shawn\] must have some ago. It was after he was fired by Newhouse. After New - when… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/my-chronology-is-terrible-work-with-william-shawn-must-have-some-ago/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [ We disagree heavily on abortion \[with Margot Hentoff\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/we-disagree-heavily-on-abortion-with-margot-hentoff/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [Now that is dangerous, when the people don't know what's happening to their Constitution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/now-that-is-dangerous-when-the-people-don-t-know-what-s-happening-to/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [ \[My wife Margot\] was the - I guess, the coordinator or the production manager \[of The Jazz Review\], and we got to know each… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/my-wife-margot-was-the-i-guess-the-coordinator-or-the-production/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [The book that really, really shaped my politics and has forever is Arthur Koestler's "Darkness at Noon," which is a novel based on terrible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/the-book-that-really-really-shaped-my-politics-and-has-forever-is/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [I have I guess 3 passions. One is the Constitution. The other is jazz and the other is being an atheist prolifer which, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/i-have-i-guess-3-passions-one-is-the-constitution-the-other-is-jazz/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [If the American people have their health care paid for by the government, depending on their age and their condition, they will be subject…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/if-the-american-people-have-their-health-care-paid-for-by-the/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [ \[A.J. Muste\] was - he - I don't know what he finally came out believing in, but it was some kind of higher being. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/a-j-muste-was-he-i-don-t-know-what-he-finally-came-out-believing-in/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [That is what is happening with the Tea Parties. I wrote a column called "The Second American Revolution" about the fact that people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/that-is-what-is-happening-with-the-tea-parties-i-wrote-a-column/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [I read like everybody - like every other writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/i-read-like-everybody-like-every-other-writer/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [ Margot \[Hentoff\] dislikes Bill Clinton because he's totally untrustworthy, and you really ought to have some faith in whoever's going to be your president. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/margot-hentoff-dislikes-bill-clinton-because-he-s-totally/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) [Explore all 222 Nat Hentoff quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) ## More Boston quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [I'm a big fan of all the Boston guys that are acting - Matt Damon , Ben Affleck, Mark Wahlberg - they made a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-wormald/i-m-a-big-fan-of-all-the-boston-guys-that-are-acting-matt-damon-ben/) [Kenny Wormald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-wormald/) > [“Mom, I live in the South End, not South Boston. They are entirely different neighborhoods.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-swanson-goodreads-author/mom-i-live-in-the-south-end-not-south-boston-they-are-entirely/) [Peter Swanson (Goodreads Author](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-swanson-goodreads-author/) > [I think there are four or five interesting pockets where a lot of cool technology companies are getting started. Chicago is one of them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-lefkofsky/i-think-there-are-four-or-five-interesting-pockets-where-a-lot-of/) [Eric Lefkofsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-lefkofsky/) > [I love cooking but I still always go and sneak a little bit of sides from Boston Market, and it's so good. They're so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-walsh/i-love-cooking-but-i-still-always-go-and-sneak-a-little-bit-of-sides/) [Kate Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-walsh/) > [Boston is one of my favorite places to wrestle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rikishi/boston-is-one-of-my-favorite-places-to-wrestle/) [Rikishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rikishi/) > [I ain't got no problem in Boston, I especially like the attention. I know that I'm one of the top guys in this game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manny-ramirez/i-ain-t-got-no-problem-in-boston-i-especially-like-the-attention-i/) [Manny Ramirez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manny-ramirez/) > [I lived to play basketball. Growing up as a kid, Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics were my favorite team. The way they played,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-walton/i-lived-to-play-basketball-growing-up-as-a-kid-bill-russell-and-the/) [Bill Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-walton/) > [The success of Boston's economy is intertwined with the health and well-being of every neighborhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-wu/the-success-of-boston-s-economy-is-intertwined-with-the-health-and/) [Michelle Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-wu/) > [2004 was a great year for Boston! The Patriots won the Super Bowl! Boston hosted its first national political convention! And - the Red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-menino/2004-was-a-great-year-for-boston-the-patriots-won-the-super-bowl/) [Thomas Menino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-menino/) > [ It was when Boston invited us to do a parade one November, and I was the only \[Star Wars\] cast member skeptical of the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ratzenberger/it-was-when-boston-invited-us-to-do-a-parade-one-november-and-i-was/) [John Ratzenberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ratzenberger/) > [Now I have been studying very closely what happens every day in the courts in Boston, Massachusetts. You would be astounded--maybe you wouldn't, maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/now-i-have-been-studying-very-closely-what-happens-every-day-in-the/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Boston's justice system is in serious need of reform. Many of its policies and practices are antiquated, expensive, and don't really even make Boston…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaun-king/boston-s-justice-system-is-in-serious-need-of-reform-many-of-its/) [Shaun King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaun-king/) > [I grew up outside of Boston in a town called Manchester by the Sea, and we spent our summers in Nantucket.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-faxon/i-grew-up-outside-of-boston-in-a-town-called-manchester-by-the-sea/) [Nat Faxon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-faxon/) > [Priests, like all of us, are affected by culture, ... When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-santorum/priests-like-all-of-us-are-affected-by-culture-when-the-culture-is/) [Rick Santorum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-santorum/) [Browse all 787 Boston quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boston/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was writing - at least beginning to write Boston Boy and there were a lot of holes in my so-called research. I didn't know the towns my mother and father came from in Russia. I didn't know the name of the clothing store I went to work for when I was 11 years old. I didn't know a lot of things. So I called for my FBI files, not expecting to have that stuff there, but I wanted to know what they had on me.But they did have the towns my mother and father lived in in Russia. 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