Tales of summer camp life as told by Jim Gibbons
Posted in Letters from Jim on Aug 22nd, 2011
As many of you who follow this blog already know, Bill Will—the co-founder of Camp Shewahmegon and one of the main reasons so many of us have such fond summer camp memories—died recently. To say he’ll be missed is an understatement. He was tremendous and I know I personally owe him a tremendous amount. There […]
Posted in Letters from Jim on Oct 27th, 2010
A year ago, I participated in a month-long fundraiser called Movember where men grow mustaches to increase awareness about men’s health and raise funds to fight men’s cancer. This year, I’m doing it again (as is Shewahmegonite Dan Gibbons). It’s a great charity, a grand time and a great way to raise some money to […]
Posted in Letters from Jim on Jul 13th, 2010
Today is July 12, 2010. Scroll down a bit and you’ll see the last post was erected (Boner jokes already?! What kind of camp blog is this?!) almost a year ago with a “I’m gon’ get back on this shit” promise. Clearly that last boast of blogging fervor was bullshit. This next one, I think, […]
Posted in Letters from Jim on Aug 26th, 2009
Ok, let’s just get it out of the way… It’s been a long time since I’ve updated Nothing More American. I’m sorry. But let’s face it, you can’t force nostalgia or the memories and stories that go along with it. A semi-recent conversation with an old camp buddy about the dilemma of modern technology at […]
Posted in Letters from Jim on Jun 6th, 2009
Lately, I’ve been on a big Conan (the Cimmerian or barbarian, not the late night host) kick and stumbled across this quote from Conan creator Robert E. Howard featured in an essay about the author bookending a graphic novel collection I was reading. I think it applies to this blog, so here it is: “As […]
Posted in Letters from Jim on May 10th, 2009
Boo boop! Hey folks, sorry I’ve been so bad at updating over the past couple of weeks, but if you’ve been paying attention to my other blog (Enemy of Peanuts at www.EnemyOfPeanuts.com) then you’ll notice I have at least been busy. Still, I’ve got a few reminiscences that need telling over here on NMA and […]
Posted in Letters from Jim on Mar 25th, 2009
Most camps have a camper and staff-written publication that updates and parents on the goings-on of their kids’ summer retreat. At Camp Shewahmegon, it may have been printed on pastel paper and put together on an MS Dos computer, but it was still a great place for us Shewahmegonites to drop little in-jokes and tell […]
Posted in Letters from Jim on Mar 22nd, 2009
Hey Folks! I just wanted to address you all directly with a few things. First, I chatted with a few friends recently who told me they have been enjoying the blog. You know who you are, but I just wanted to put an additional “thank you” up here. It means a lot to know that […]
Posted in Letters from Jim on Mar 16th, 2009
After spending nearly half the summers of my life at one camp or another, it’s difficult to remember a time before the culture surrounding those Junes and Julys away from home wasn’t ingrained into my very being—and make no mistake, a summer camp experience is an adventure that, risking the cliché, alters you at your […]
Posted in Letters from Jim on Feb 25th, 2009
I’m sure that in my attempt to open with something profound I’ve already done an injustice to my goal here—to collect the memories of my camp days and capture the spirit of them for myself and others to enjoy—but, hysterical and goofy as my memories are, there was something in the capture the flag games, naked dips into the lake, stupid jokes, raincoat hikes and fast friendships that was distinctly profound in regards to my life…