This novel, Willaims Lake Was Once The Center Of The Universe, just happens to satisfy a forty year old promise I made to write a book based on the escapades of a group of adolensces resisting maturation. I actually wrote the book because it was something I wanted to do. To quote my friend Tim, "You tell them I did it. I'm the one."

     It is in large part based on actual events. However, make no mistake about the fact that the contents, especially the dialogue, are fiction. This is after all, a compilation of stories from the cobweb covered far reachs of the minds of some of the characters. There is even disagreement among the contributors about who did what back then.

     We have told these tales for forty years. They have changed with us. Undocumented history has a way of modifying itself to suit our purposes at the moment. As Gita, the female lead, in Scott Turow’s excellent book Ordinary Heroes. queried Dubin, the male lead, “Who are we but the stories we tell about ourselves, particularly if we accept them?” We tell these stories. We accept them.

      I needed characters — characters with names tend to be more interesting. I was trying to make the book as interesting as possible for you — the reader. So I used names. I called the list of names I know, ones that belong to people I have known. There are some real people portrayed in the book. I have their permission to use their names. Some were original perpretrators. Some are displaced in time and maybe location. I used the names of others I know on a purely coincidental basis. If I did not get your permission to use your name, the character is not intended to be you. 

      Williams Lake was a real place. The dance hall was a real significant part of the lives of many during its heyday in the second half of the Sixies. It was operated by Robert Honeycutt durin that time.