Last Days of Summer

Charlie, a native of Racine, Wisconsin, is a third baseman for the New York Giants. He is a record-breaking ballplayer who espouses conservative Midwestern political and social views. The reader eventually learns that Charlie was the product of a physically abusive father and a mother who died during his early years. Wise-cracking and ungrammatical, Charlie initially resists pleas from Joey to dedicate home runs in his honor. Eventually, Charlie realizes that the boy is being victimized and bullied by young anti-Semites in the neighborhood, and he makes a personal appearance in order to put a stop to the beatings. This is the beginning of a long and beautiful relationship between himself, Joey, and the Margolis family. In turn, Joey is exposed to a variety of celebrities, including Charlie’s future wife, singer Hazel Banks.

Despite his occasionally taciturn manner, Charlie takes his eventual role as surrogate father to Joey quite seriously. He arranges to bring him on a road trip with the ball club, insists upon proper behavior, and enforces strict rules regarding memorization of the Torah in preparation for Joey’s bar mitzvah. As his character is developed, he is perceived as a life-affirming, moral man with a strong sense of integrity and a true love for Joey.

A beautiful and talented torch singer of the era, Hazel McKay is sophisticated, witty, and charitable. Charlie arranges to marry her prior to being shipped overseas, but she carries on his tradition of helping to raise Joey. Hazel allows the multi-talented youngster to sing duets with her in dinner clubs and at the Canteen, which provides entertainment for soldiers. Hazel is also accepted as a member of Joey’s family and functions as a cross between an older sister and a young aunt to the boy. 

Ida is Joey’s mother. Her husband divorced her to marry a shallow Manhattan socialite. Despite this hardship, she is portrayed as a witty, decent person who is not engulfed in bitterness due to her circumstances.

Carrie is Joey’s aunt; she resides with the boy and his mother. While portrayed as a fairly insular person, Carrie is affectionate and highly devoted to Joey. She also recognizes Charlie Banks as a decent person despite the fact that he does not follow Judaism.

Dr. Weston is Joey’s childhood psychologist, whom the boy starts seeing after being sent to the Brooklyn Juvenile Detention Center. Joey first confides in Dr. Weston regarding his neighborhood bully, the anti-Semitic Lenny Bierman. Dr. Weston remains a constant thread throughout Joey’s adolescent journey, and their relationship eventually extends into a type of friendship, in which the doctor is even invited to the Banks wedding. 

Rabbi Lieberman is charged with overseeing Joey’s bar mitzvah, and after trying to contact Joey’s father to no avail, the rabbi reluctantly allows the Gentile Charlie Banks to attend the ceremony in the father’s stead. As a devout man of Judaism, the reserved Rabbi Lieberman functions as a foil to celebrity athlete Charlie Banks. Like other male roles in the story, Rabbi Lieberman becomes a consistent part of Joey’s adolescence. Charlie even extends an invitation to the rabbi, asking him to join Joey’s birthday celebration at a dinner club in Manhattan. The rabbi cordially declines. However, Rabbi Lieberman later attends a birthday dinner for Charlie at the Margolis home, indicating that the two principal men in Joey’s life have found a common ground, despite their differences in faith and manner.

David Margolis leaves his wife Ida for a Manhattan socialite, which prompts the relocation of Ida, Carrie, and Joey to a non-Jewish neighborhood. David essentially abandons his son, both emotionally and physically. In one instance, when Joey is stuck on a Ferris wheel, David prepares to leave for a dinner and hands the attendant $20 to get the boy a taxi home. Initially, Joey internalizes his father’s absence. He inexplicably hates the Dodgers, his father’s favorite baseball team, and when first prompted by Charlie, Joey lies and claims that his father is a submarine commander. David’s role as an absent father serves to unify the relationship between Joey and Charlie. Charlie’s presence as a surrogate father is solidified when Charlie attends Joey’s bat mitzvah in David’s stead. 

Craig, who is a Japanese-American, is Charlie’s upstairs neighbor and best friend. After he is assaulted by bigoted boys in the neighborhood, the family relocates to California. For a period of time, they are placed in an internment camp. Later, Craig becomes a civil rights lawyer as an adult. 

Stuke is the first baseman for the New York Giants baseball team. He is Charlie’s best friend. They enlist in the Marines together, and Charlie is killed saving Stuke’s life. Stuke eventually becomes a Philosophy professor at a New Hampshire college.