Young Eric Malone

A mix of fiction and memoir, Young Eric Malone gives glimpses of another era-1950s and '60s New England.

Eric's summers at the ocean and lake were happy times, but they also included a few edgy friends, tense 4th of July competitions, water rescues, and even a fatal tropical storm.

He even had a few risky confrontations with a rock-throwing rival.

Eric developed a love for literature and history, and enjoyed speculating on the possibilities of the Second Vatican Council.

When he joined the school's debate team, he found the activity that would stretch his mind and sharpen his speaking skills for years to come.

Once he had the freedom of a college English major, new worlds of "undiscovered wisdom" opened to him.

Yet the Vietnam War also loomed as he graduated from college and rode on an August afternoon toward a new life in Boston.

He had just turned twenty-two in the summer of '67...