Jayne Champion started making notes about growing up in West Hartford, and it turned into a book.

By Melissa Cole

“My 23andMe results say that I’m pretty much split fifty-fifty, half Ashkenazic Jewish and half Irish/English. I used to find this confusing. I couldn’t figure out where I fit in.” 

That’s a line from the introduction of West Hartford author Jayne Champion’s new book, “You Want Fun, Go to Coney Island: Growing Up Sort of Jewish in West Hartford.”

Friends and family came out to celebrate Champion at a book signing event Wednesday evening that included lovely food, sparkling drinks, and lively conversation. 

This is the first book for Champion, 75. When asked if she ever imagined writing a book in her 70s, she said, “Never! It never occurred to me. I’m just so proud of myself.” 

During the lockdown of 2020, a time when her husband was also very ill, Champion was looking for ways to keep sane. So, she started writing about her childhood, her relatives, life events, and before she knew it, she had chapters of a book. 

“It was a real catharsis for me. And I thought, well, somebody must be interested in this. Not just West Hartford people. Somebody must be interested in what it was like in that era,” Champion said. 

She attended Morley and Beach Park Elementary Schools, Plant Junior High, and then graduated from Hall High before going off to college at Russell Sage in New York – “a miracle in and of itself, considering the amount of beer she consumed and the number of college boys she chased,” she joked. 

Readers get an inside view of Champion’s life in the ’50s and ’60s, starting out in a modest but vibrant home on Cumberland Road alongside many other Jewish families, where kids were running back and forth from house to house until dark. 

When Champion was in fourth grade, her family moved into a much bigger, older home on Fernwood Road. 

“The new neighbors were quiet, well-dressed, and spoke in what seemed to be an entirely different language of refinement and restraint,” she recalled.

This move was really pivotal for Champion in figuring out who she was and who she wanted to be. The book takes you on a journey through the ups and downs she faced as she entered young adulthood and beyond. 

One of Champion’s favorite chapters is about G. Fox and Company, the beloved department store in downtown Hartford where her father was an executive. 

“My best friend Terry and I would just go and charge up a storm. We didn’t keep half the stuff – my mother made us take it back – but it was a playground. The best fashions, the best salespeople because Mrs. Auerbach ran the best store.” 

There’s also a chapter about Loehmann’s (anyone remember those communal changing rooms?), as well as many candid family stories about Champion’s parents and grandparents. 

Champion dedicated the book to her daughter, also named Jayne, who recently welcomed a little boy named Harrison. 

“Make sure they know where they came from, the fabulous great-grandparents they had that they never had a chance to meet, and just respect it.” 

“You Want Fun, Go to Coney Island: Growing Up Sort of Jewish in West Hartford” is available on Amazon. 

Visit Champion’s website to learn more, or email her at [email protected]. 

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