Raised Catholic

A professional jongleur (storyteller), Stivender offers rich material here in anecdotes based on growing up Catholic in Philadelphia in the 1950s. The first-born of an Irish Catholic mother and a Lutheran father, he missed the ``call'' to priestly vocation that his parochial school teachers envisioned for their prize pupil. Instead, his inquisitive imagination wrestled merrily with the pseudo-military nature of his Catholic education; with what he calls the game of ``doctrinal tennis'' played in the classroom by teacher and students; and with his all-too-literal interpretations of pious conventions, such as accommodating one's guardian angel. Stivender's storytelling emanates from a warm familial setting and resonates with affectionate humor while he takes swipes at the rites of passage of a more innocent time. These tales of Catholic culture amuse while they recall a history shared by many. (Oct.)