37 Summers: My Years As A Camp Director

Through a series of short stories and character portraits, we learn of the joys, trials and surprises that make up the life of the Director of a children’s summer camp. Arthur asserts “there are very few people who have the opportunity to create a world of their own, a world where the only two goals are the growth and the happiness of its inhabitants.” We learn that those goals are not always so easily achieved. You will learn of charismatic and colorful counselors, of fantastic sports and hikes, and of imaginative special activities. But you will also learn of a lake that turned orange overnight, of late night trouble from prowlers, of frightening athletic accidents, of counselors who mysteriously disappear, and of cleaver wielding chefs. “I once joked to a friend that if I was President, the whole country would have a general swim at 10:30 every warm morning. We would all wake up early every day, get plenty of exercise, have a rest period after lunch, and go to bed early so that we would be rested for the day to come. There would be kindly advisers and coaches available whose job it was not only to teach skills to people, but also to make them feel good about themselves. My country would be a without cell phones, electronic games and large TV screens.” “Camp was my country, and though we never quite lived up to the paradise I envisioned, we frequently came close. I can’t think of anything I would rather have done during those wonderful productive years.”