People are vivid, full of color and stories. That's what I learned in the neighborhood I grew up in. My father was a salesman on the move from security to opportunity in the middle of the country's most optimistic time. He brought us to a new town with two automotive vacuum cleaners to sell, a steel-willed wife, two small children and a new Buick that he'd acquired along the way. Quickly settled into a new kind of neighborhood created by a gambler trying to go straight, the neighborhood turned out to be a good place for growing up. Our neighbors had lots of stories, kids, were willing to meddle, quirky in their own ways, colorful, some downright weird. Fortunately, I could keep a good eye on them all through the kitchen window. That's where this book started. These are our stories and theirs-vivid folks, happy times, some not, curiosities, and unlikely memories, pretty much true, made in the heart of 50's America.