A collection of 90 insightful, often humorous stories by Murray H. Block, spanning his childhood in New York City during the Great Depression, his World War II service in China, his career as a college administrator, and his marriage and family life. During his long career, which continues at age 90 as an administrator at Excelsior College, he has served as Deputy to the Chancellor of the State University of New York, President of Manhattan Community College, and Interim President of numerous other colleges. Murray brings wit and humor to his tales of growing up in New York and raising a family on Long Island in the 1950s and '60s. He also writes movingly about the fate of his family during the Holocaust and historical events he has witnessed firsthand, from the funeral of President Kennedy to the day the color barrier was broken at the Metropolitan Opera. Most of all, The First Ninety are stories of Murray's enduring love affair with his wife, Estelle, with family and friends, and with life itself.