Meeting and interviewing Norm Spector, we shared stories about the things we did while living in the Canal Zone. In our youth, we both spent a lot of time in the jungle with friends, but never had the unexpected encounter as that of his brother.

When I sat with Evelyn Barraza Snider and her husband Tom, while gathering information about the Barraza family, I laughed at a flashback they shared. It was a reminder that living in the Canal Zone was not always paradise.

To do this Zonian family interview for the book, I traveled through the center of Florida Gators territory, then proceeded deep into the heart of Florida State Seminole territory.