For 12 years Bill Vossler published a monthly column in the St. Cloud Times newspaper on his unusual growing-up life, ranging from the desertion of his father when he was three, to being told at 18 that he was "the world's worst whiner." His pieces dealt with the near-death of a bully, loving to deliver newspapers every day for nine years, free from adult interference, building a baseball stadium, missing his dad, moving across the street from a huge empty lot where he discovered ancient fossils of extinct beasts, and playing baseball with his friend, 39-year-old Ervin. This book also includes pieces from adulthood as well. Vossler has been a professional writer for more than 40 years, and during that time has published 4,250 articles, essays, short stories, poems, one play, and 19 books.