This is an introduction discussing some overall features of the story happening here.

First of all, I cannot include the usual disclaimer about “any resemblance to real persons is purely coincidental.” The protagonist/narrator of this story shares my name, and is, conceptually, me — at least, me as I would have been had I been dropped into this life-threatening adventure in my mid-20s. All other *named* characters are purely fictional as per the usual disclaimer. Some characters who are never named, and do not actually appear in any scene, are also based on real people I knew 40 years ago.

Named *places*, on the other hand, are for the most part as authentic as I can make them after nearly 40 years for memory to fade. Some places are completely invented; this will be obvious if you try to find them on a map.

I will confess that I have jiggered the weather to suit the flow of the story. The weather as it appears in the story is *typical* of central New Jersey weather at the time of year stated, but it does not correspond to the actual weather in any particular year.

That said, let’s get on with the story!