They were part of the Baby Boomer vanguard, three boys thrown together in a 1950s Southern California subdivision looking like most other boys of that era. Under coonskin hats they ran free all summer long inventing their own games and endless challenges, fought imaginary Indians and pirates in a nearby orange grove, and on occasion battled a neighborhood bully or two. Their greatest enemy, however, was an infectious disease called polio - a paralyzing scourge that maimed and too-often killed little kids.

This is a coming-of-age tale based on actual events and the experiences of real people. Told chiefly through the eyes of a child, at times it will warm your soul as well as, perhaps, break your heart. Then, too, there will be plenty of twists and turns that will leave you laughing out loud.

So, let us journey now back to that long-ago time and see what it was really like - with hula hoops, bouffant hair and flat tops with wings; "American Bandstand," "Ozzie and Harriet" and "Davy Crockett" on TV; Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Elvis electrifying the up-and-coming Boomer generation - and a nation as terrified by the threat of nuclear war with the Russians as by a crippling and deadly microscopic bug.