A tribute to family, friendship and the coming of age, Campingly Yours reflects on childhood in a bygone era—adventure, tradition and the timeless bond between idyllic parents and a devoted son. “I didn’t want to go to summer camp that first year,” Adler admits. “I begged my parents not to send me and cried once I got there, but ultimately I never left.”
Adler also got a face full of pudding that first day, a sticky rite of passage that led to decades of tradition, character-building and good old-fashioned fun. As a camper turned counselor at North Star Camp for boys in Hayward, Wisconsin, Adler spent 15 years under the tutelage of his mentor and friend, Lou Rosenblum, “The Master of All Campers.” Encouraged by his parents and bolstered by a hidden stash of boyhood U.S. Savings Bonds, Adler went on to purchase Chippewa Ranch Camp for girls in Eagle River, Wisconsin, a facility he owned and operated for 27 years.
There, Adler hosted melodramas, led camp songs and served as leading man in many other memorable roles—teacher, therapist, child advocate, crisis manager, EMT and mediator. “I’ve had the unique opportunity to interact with thousands of people at summer camp, from all over the world,” he said. “There are so many stories to tell, both happy and sad, and this book will take anyone with a tender side on a full emotional roller coaster.”
Laced with humor, wisdom and insight, Campingly Yours is punctuated with vivid imagery and laugh-out-loud humor, a joyful, tender journey that is well worth the ride.
Slated for release in January 2009, Campingly Yours masterfully captures the essence of summer camp at Chippewa Ranch…with the North Star as the author’s constant guide.
Campingly Yours (ISBN 978-1-58985-
