Experiencing the Polio Epidemic It was mid-September; It was the height of summer and the temperature was in the eighty-degree range, and under normal circumstances there would have been a long line of people, mostly children, waiting to dive into the huge indoor pool at the Mission Beach Plunge. However, these were not normal times, the only people near the pool were there gazing despondently at the crystal clear water and wondering what deadly monster might be hiding in its depths. It was mid-summer 1952, and it was in the midst of the polio epidemic that would affect more than 60,000 people and kill more than 3,000 in the United States alone.1 As a boy, I didn't know what caused the crippling epidemic, in fact I'm sure even the adults didn't know the cause. But we were told to stay away from swimming pools and drinking fountains because it seemed anyone who didn't heed the warning was sure to contract the deadly disease. At schools and in stores there were posters of children and young adults with crutches and heavy metal braces wrapped around their lower legs. Next to these posters, an organization called the March of Dimes placed a clear plastic container into which people could pour money to find a cure for the deadly disease. Fear and guilt seemed to hang in the atmosphere, because although no one knew what had caused the virus, everyone seemed to think it was something they had done that made them sick. Especially the parents, who felt guilty because they were overwhelmed by the unknown, and the thought that one of their children would remain paralyzed or, worse, die, always led to almost daily warnings to stay away from fountains and swimming pools where groups of strangers were swimming. . . There seemed to be general consensus that the disease was waterborne. Waking up with flu-like symptoms such as a mild upper respiratory infection, diarrhea, fever, sore throat, or just general malaise, caused immediate concern. My brothers and sisters and I inherited our father's sinus problems and allergies and regularly had some type of symptom of an oncoming cold or flu. My mother, despite knowing that we had hereditary breathing problems, fell into a deep and worried silence whenever we showed signs of discomfort...