The 50 / 60 Kid - A Palo Alto Dreamer

Book excerpt: What was Silicon Valley like before it was "Silicon Valley?" For both those who recollect the Bay Area in different times, and those who only know it now, this story delights with how things used to be; the orchards, Sunday afternoon drives, and children who explored creeks, neighborhoods and life with intensity and passion. Growing up in Palo Alto in the 1950s and '60s meant a life filled with stories about good and bad guys: Davy Crockett, Communists, Republicans; the Church, and the Mickey Mouse Club. Jane's vivid imagination is both her salvation and her nemesis, and seeing the world through her eyes brings to mind how imagination can triumph in even the most mundane situations. Her story of changing times evokes the hopes, discoveries, joys and disappointments that children confront, and of how some things never change. More than 50 photographs enrich Jane's story, and you may find yourself remembering childhood wonders, joys and confusions as you relax and reflect with the Palo Alto Dreamer.