The longest day of the year has passed, and that means kids across the nation are packing their bags for summer camp. For one or two golden months, kids escape their families and schoolmates and trade their smoggy cities and stifling suburbs for a chance to reinvent themselves. Summer camp is that kitschy, temporary utopia, where lifelong friendships and memories are formed while tie-dying t-shirts.
The new book Camp Camp by Roger Bennett and Jules Shell takes a look at this unique realm where Fantasy Island meets Lord of the Flies. It’s a collection of photographs, essays and personal memories of campers from the 70s through the early 90s. The book recalls the magical campgrounds where so many American kids experience romance, rejection, intimacy, embarrassment, and their first taste of true independence – often marked by pseudo-native American coming-of-age rituals.
Roger Bennet joins us on Word of Mouth to share some memories and examine a generation that came to its own around a campfire.
(Photo by Daniel Carrus)
