Paul Hanlon

My name is Paul Hanlon presently of Peabody, formerly of Lynn. During the summer of 1965, Eric Taylor, my best friend and I went to Pleasure Island with our mothers. We visited the monkey island. Our mothers were sitting at a near by bench. My friend and I were feeding the monkeys with peanuts from the park vending machines.

When we ran out of money, we took cigarette filter butts and filled the feeding cup. After 20 minutes of this, the monkeys were very mad with us. Eric went under the wooden fence to get more filter butts. He turned around to talk to me and stood too close to the fence. That is when the monkeys struck back. Some reached through the fence and grabbed Eric's ears, others hit him on his head. He screamed and our mothers came to his rescue. He was scratched so he got a tetanus shot.

I just wish I had a camera.

Paul Hanlon, Peabody, Ma.