That summer — with my mother working days and Bob at work and in school, with many of his nights taken up on dates with Sally — I just about had that room all to myself in the daytime and late into the night. There were times when I would lay on my brother's bed, which was not as big to me as it was once was and do my reading there. I also found a new pastime and a new companion in the old radio we'd taken out of storage. So much of my summer, and much of the rest of my teenage years, marched to the beat of that radio.

Many of you may remember that 1964 was the year that the Beatles were introduced to the United States via the Ed Sullivan show on TV. In the aftermath of that performance, the so-called British Invasion took place, and rock n' roll took on a more lyrical and softer edge than the abhorrent clatter I remember hearing at the age of 5. What grated my ears then seduced them now. I would spend 6 to 8 hours on that large, comfortable bed, reading to the sound of the music I once despised.

The reading itself was far less casual and far more focused than before. My mother gave me a copy of her

High School Subjects Self Taught, the one she used to bone up on the high school subjects she hadn't studied in three decades — history, english grammar, latin, algebra, geometry — and a few that were new to her, such as economics, sociology, chemistry and physics.

Looking back on it now, the book was terribly written and hugely flawed. But to me, it was the key to getting a jump on the next semester, and all the semesters after that. I was determined to excel at any cost, and this was an important first step. I also had the advantage of the scores of books my brother donated to our growing library as he moved along from year to year in college. He would be a senior this Fall and leaving behind a whole new semester's worth of really high quality textbooks.

I had no great desire to explore this neighborhood, which was actually much better kept and upscale than the one we left behind in North Highlands. I walked only to clear my head from all the studying, but that was rare and sporadic. Because I refused to drink the tap water, I replaced it with whole milk to slake my thirst, and I practically lived on cookies and milk. As a result, I gained about 25 pounds that summer.