Wait—"Happy Valley College"? That's the school's name given in Dick Carlsen's memoir-disguised-as-a-novel, "The Lost Boys Of Happy Valley College" ($15.99 in paperback from AuthorHouse; also for Amazon Kindle).
The group includes "Dave" and his twin, "Dan," and six other brothers-in-mischief. (In the acknowledgements page, Carlsen gives a shout-out to "my twin brother" Don "for sharing his notes on his Super Bowl officiating experience…." In light of the shenanigans all eight engaged in at Chico State, the reader understands why names have been changed.)
Yet Carlsen's tale is more than pranks at nearby Sutter Park ("named after General John Sutter, the founder of Happy Valley") or keggers with "The Raiders" ("a 'jock' organization on campus"). It's really about how each of the eight friends find themselves living out J.M. Barrie's original Peter Pan story.
"Nostalgia had its grip on them, their common trait. It was in their DNA, from childhoods. Their Happy Valley experiences together offered up a bucket load of nostalgic reflections, which is probably why the other thing they had in common was their reluctance to leave Happy Valley. It was their Shangri La, their comfort zone, their happy place…."
Brought before "Dean Steen" after the "dance episode," the eight prepare to be punished for their "bad form," but Steen recognizes good character in each of their immature selves. He dubs them the "Lost Boys," those who "enjoyed a carefree life in Neverland. They were also mischief-makers," he adds.
By 2016, each had had a successful career but as they try to recreate the good old days (staying in a dorm on campus, frolicking at "Trout Hole") they come to realize how gripped they had been by Peter Pan Syndrome.
The reunion is transformative, a coming-of-old-age story, as one by one there's "one less Lost Boy."
