Overview

For the millions of us who enjoyed childhood summers spent away from home while at camp, that time is recalled with everything from dismay to sheer nostalgic bliss. For Disney CEO Michael Eisner, his time spent at Keewaydin Summer Camp served as a cherished and invaluable starting point for an adult life that would include a career filled with unparalleled success. Nestled in the mountains of Vermont, Keewaydin has housed generations of Eisners (including Michael's three sons) and is considered hallowed ground for the man and the family. From the raucous good times, to the sense of purpose and drive for achievement that Eisner discovered during the summers of his youth, his camp experience left an indelible mark that has prompted a deep and abiding passion for the institution. Full of anecdotes from time spent at Keewaydin and stories from Eisner's life in the upper echelons of American business that illustrate the continuing Keewaydin influence, CAMP provides a touching and insightful portrait of one of America's greatest success stories, and makes the case that summer camp is an invaluable national institution.

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""Hilariously dishy....An E-ticket ride through the world's swankest summer camp.""

A valentine to summer camp from recently deposed Disney CEO Eisner, who makes it clear why the camp reverberates for him to this very day. Camp Keewaydin sits snuggly by a lake in mid-Vermont. It's a venerable camp of the old school, keeping one eye on character building and emotional growth-with lots of challenges, from arts to sports to long camping trips-and the other on planned freedom, offering the camper a fistful of opportunities to get busy or lay back. It isn't a tony establishment, but a rough and ready one, a place where you'll glean a few experiences that will benefit you later in life ( risk is good, but survival is better ) or, as Eisner says, not without a hint of distaste, that will allow you to endure Hollywood antics and boardroom politics. The story he tells is a braided and generous one, of his own growth at the camp from ages 8 to 22, a span that brought many firsts-being away from home, pulling his own weight, learning the importance of tradition, taking on responsibilities he knew would test his abilities. It's the story also of two boys Eisner later sponsored at the camp, Pepe and Q, from down-if-not-out Los Angeles. The two bring a very different quality to the camp than the regulars do. Their stories are interesting if not compelling-maybe because Eisner didn't see the events when they happened but had an operative observe them and report back. But Eisner's own recollections are smart and immediate: remembering the camp's surroundings, the tents and halls and playing fields, the bite of not winning awards, his clowning as a staffman, finding himself once in charge of a bloodied camper miles from nowhere, or remembering the sachem qualities of the camp's long-time director. A well-told story of the raw ingredients of growing up, free of bluster but full of brio. (Eight-page photo insert, not seen) (Kirkus Reviews)

"""Hilariously dishy....An E-ticket ride through the world's swankest summer camp."""

Hilariously dishy....An E-ticket ride through the world's swankest summer camp.

Author Information

Michael D. Eisner is the chairman of Walt Disney Corp. and has worked variously as the President and COO of Paramount Pictures and Senior VP of ABC Entertainment.

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