Roger Bain has no memories of going to the local library while growing up in Clarendon Hills. The former Prospect School student and Hinsdale Central graduate lived in the village from 1949 to 1969, and the library first opened its doors in December 1963 inside a converted house. “I have a foggy recollection of going into the library once about 20 years ago,” he said.
His coming-of-age “Hardly Working” book goes into portions of his life both before and after college. He gives readers an inside look into a variety of part-time and temporary jobs he held during his school years and also into a world alongside others from vastly different ethnic, class and income strata, which he said allowed him to gain a deeper understanding of humanity. In his book, Bain introduces Doc the caddy master, the Flange Ladies, the Fuller Brush Man and the Ace Hamburger Flipper.