The South that greeted me when I moved to North Carolina in the 1950s is all but gone. I consider that two of the major contributing factors are air conditioning and television, and now computers. Before the invention of air-cooling, humidity-lowering whispers of air from a mechanical wind machine, kids would play endless games of checkers or marbles until evening. The older people took over after supper. They would sit on their front porches in the evenings, drink a little iced tea, and talk to their neighbors about their neighbors. The neighborhood, town, and family comprised their world.

In summer 1960, ten-year-old Mike Sneed (left), a boy from Maxton, North Carolina, whom I considered as close to Huck Finn as I’d ever meet, allowed me to photograph him as he went on his daily summertime adventures. In this picture, Mike is playing with friends on the big porch—a common place for kids to play in an era before television dominated. Look at the toddler on the sidewalk with a bottle; indeed, this was a simpler and safer time in the world. Mike grew up and served in Vietnam and returned with a bride. I envisioned his kids playing on his front porch and enjoying the simple pleasures of life with friends.