Inspiring readers—

   Amazing how you can make these letters come to life. Its your scene setting, context and connections that make this flow.

—Farley Peters

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   Lovely work — so enjoyable and a great way to get history!! I loved it. Dix came alive! The photos were wonderful — seeing the actual letters and envelopes made it seem so present.   A great read. 

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 Thanks for bringing back some memories of the Camp Wood-n-Aqua experience for me. I was a 15-year-old boy from Kirkwood, and my parents knew the owners, Jack Alvey and his wife. I went in June 1953, the year the Rosenberg's were executed. 

         Yes it was the lake of leeches, and the bugs and the cold showers, but it was also a formative experience for me, an only child, to be with a group of maturing young men and interesting counselors who were five years older. Some tales were told …

         I had been to many camps by that time, YMCA Sunnen Lake, Scouts, Farm Camp, then Wood. Wood was the best. 

         My parents also took a vacation up to Minnesota that same time, and met me at the end of six weeks so I missed the train ride back home with all the new friends. The trip up from St. Louis Union Station, to Chicago Station, the bus across to the other station and the steam train with open windows through the woods, all very memorable and exciting. I got to go back to Duluth one day with the owner and my counselor to pick up someone who was late arriving. 

         So it was fun, and I hope to remember it forever. Thanks for the reminder.

—Dan B. Brockman, Chicago