Zegar Mazel

This book consists of 26 short stories of a young boy in the 1950's and his adventures in mostly rural New Jersy, Pennsylvania and New York.

I heard one of my dear friends say that America was at its best in 1956. I'm not sure what he used as a criterion for this opinion, but at this point in my life, I can see his point. Starting at age 5, we walked to school about a mile away with our friends. We all lived in the same tract house development without security gates or fences. It was a time, under some circumstances, when talking to a stranger wasn't dangerous. As a young child, I was free to explore the woods and creeks in our backyard to discover nature on my own terms. My connection to the home on any given day off from school was food. If I was hungry, I either took something with me or stopped home. Otherwise, being on time for dinner was my only requirement. If I wasn't home on time, I might not get any dinner. I think most parents in my neighborhood practiced "healthy neglect" with their children. We were on our own most of the time, paling around with friends and getting into mischief every so often. We played games that might occupy 10 or 12 kids at a time with only a pinky ball. There were some mean kids, maybe a neighborhood bully, but for the most part, kids were nice to each other. If there was a fight, it was settled with fists. No kicking or beating someone over the head with a blunt object. Either from a lack of technology or otherwise, we were not bombarded with the terrible things everyone, even young children, see and hear these days. The adult pictures your mother didn't want you to see were often in magazines of general circulation. Women didn't seem to take their clothes off as much. You might catch an underwear ad for women in your mother's favorite magazine but to cut it out of her favorite magazine was problematic. It was a time when taking an airplane required a suit and tie. No, the airline company didn't insist on this, but everyone knew what was expected of them. These days everything seems to be "OK". What is expected has become a mystery. Kids today might think life must have been very boring in the 1950's. Zegar Mazel might very well dispel them of that notion.

Marc Zegar was born in 1951. He was a run-away at age 16 and failed to graduate high school. He attended several colleges (earned high school credits for the only school he would graduate) for a little more than 2 years. At the age of 20, he became an entrepreneur attempting to start several businesses ranging from rock concert promotion to founding Marc Account Systems, a licensed California collection agency. The agency was very successful. However, Marc decided to go to law school at age 26 and become a lawyer. His law school experience lasted about a year and a half at a private, unaccredited law school. He entered another law school that was in the basement of a Ralph’s Supermarket in Santa Monica, CA. This school went bankrupt. Undeterred, Marc signed up for the bar exam anyway and managed to pass it. He is still licensed by the California State Bar although he hasn’t practiced (Bankruptcy Specialist) law since moving to Washington State in 2000. Today, he manages his own investment portfolio of commercial and residential properties. Previously, a scratch golfer, he now spends much of his time writing, playing piano and oil painting.