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Summer Lovin’

Reminiscences of sleepaway camp, where sleep was the last thing on anyone’s mind

by
Laurel Snyder
July 30, 2007

With August upon us, it seems appropriate to tip our hats to a venerable summer institution: sleepaway camp. From our archive, we bring you Laurel Snyder’s interview with Eric Simonoff, who edited an anthology on the subject. From 1975 to 1985, Simonoff packed up his books, clothes, bug spray and bathing suit and headed to Camp Harlam in the Poconos. Lugging the books was for naught; at camp, he found himself transformed into a popular kid occupied more by ice cream socials and coed sleep-outs. His Sleepaway: Writings on Summer Camp, a collection of 20 stories, essays, and poems, looks at the joys and perils of bug juice and bunk living.

Have a camp story of your own? Leave a comment.

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