Jimmy and the Big Turtle

Was there ever a time when small boys were allowed to learn life’s experiences by trial and error? A time when ten-year-old boys could fish, hunt for frogs, skip stones on the water, and dream of catching an enormous Leatherback Turtle by their own devices?

It’s 1943 and this is the first summer Jimmy and Roger can use the boat on their own to fish for the really big bass and pike that are found in the cold, deep waters of Union Lake. While exploring the lake, Jimmy spots a huge Leatherback Turtle swimming on the bottom of the lake. When he describes the turtle to Mr. Marohn the shopkeeper, he learns that big Leatherback Turtles populated the lake when Marohn was a boy forty years ago. Jimmy is awestruck when he spots a big Leatherback Turtle basking in the sun at the fishing site. He determines that the turtle is two feet in diameter and from that moment on, he wants to catch it. His best friend Roger fears the ferocious bite of the turtle and the thought of losing a finger makes him reluctant to help. Jimmy won’t take no for an answer, and convinces his friend that he needs him and Roger agrees.

As the boys plan for the opening day of fishing season, Jimmy relives an old experience when he hooked himself in the back of the head with his brother’s casting rod. Undaunted, Jimmy and Roger buy their gear, dig for worms and catch minnows to use on opening day. A confident Roger bets a quarter with his older brother that they’ll catch twenty-five fish. They come up short on the quantity but long on the size of the fish they catch.

Later in the summer Roger devises a plan to hunt for golf balls at the local golf course. Small boys aren’t allowed on the course and the pond with the golf balls is marked with a sign reading, “DANGEROUS WATER,” but that doesn’t bother Roger. When they’re caught by the course superintendent and emerge from the water, they’re covered with bloodsuckers.

The following week Mr. Marohn explains to Jimmy how he caught large frogs when he was a boy. Thus, following suit and using a bamboo pole and a piece of red flannel, Jimmy and Roger are so intent on catching frogs they paddle their canoe into a private canal on Long Lake. They quickly learn at the wrong end of a rifle that some people consider frogs to be pets.

At summer’s end, they spot the big Leatherback Turtle basking in the sun at the fishing site. Finally, after Jimmy has spent two months in preparation for this day, the turtle has returned. As the boys hoped, the turtle again comes to the fishing site the next day and the two are waiting for her.

JIMMY and the BIG TURTLE takes place in an idyllic time when small boys were allowed to roam free from morning until night; and their greatest worries were how to catch the largest fish, and the largest turtle.