14 | JULY 11 • 2024 

even summer breaks couldn’t 
separate these two. 
“Our summers were spent 
happily employed at Camp 
Tamarack,
” Myles said. “Linda 
was a counselor, and I had a 
wide range of jobs including 
dishwasher, kitchen porter, 
baker’s assistant, salad chef 
and truck driver. One of my 
fellow kitchen porters was Alan 
Hitsky, formerly of the JN staff.
”
Turns out the Lash family has 
an extraordinarily long history 
with the camp. Amazingly, 
Myles’ mother, Rose, was a 
camper in the 1920s. And a 
Lash family member has been a 
camper, counselor, staff mem-
ber or board member in every 
decade since.
I think it’s safe to say that 
Myles and Linda Lash took 
their loyalty to Camp Tamarack 
to a whole other level. Just a 
few days after their June 1968 
wedding, and a brief two-day 
Toronto honeymoon, they 
found themselves chaperoning 
what Myles recollects was a 
busload of “screaming, hor-
mone-unbalanced” Tamarack 
teenagers on a cross-country 
adventure.
This “second” honeymoon 
included two separate trips 
— commonly referred to as 

Tamarack’s Eastern Trip and 
Western Trip. Myles drove the 
old-style green school bus. In 
total, they were on the road for 
seven weeks.
“We loved it,
” Linda said. “It 
was a wonderful time for both 
of us. And I don’t think we 
would have done it any differ-
ently. You know, in hindsight, it 
was just a great adventure.
”
Myles said, “We pitched 
tents every evening. The fun-
niest thing I remember, was 
one night, as Linda and I were 
perched together in our tent, a 
big gale force windstorm came 
by and blew our tent down. 
We looked up to find ourselves 
being stared at by 16 kids.
Apparently, one of their evening 
activities was wondering what 
the newlyweds were up to.
”

THE ‘WRITE’ TIME
Myles Lash has long been a 
student of the Civil War, a 
passion he inherited from his 
father, Irving, who loved mili-
tary history. Myles’ interest was 
further heightened by his time 
spent living and working in 
Richmond, Virginia, the capital 
of the Confederacy. 
“I was the executive direc-
tor of the Medical College 
of Virginia Hospitals,
” said 
Lash, “an institution that has a 

remarkable history predating 
the Civil War.
” 
Retirement and the COVID 
19 pandemic gave Myles the 
time and opportunity to create 
a historical fiction novel that 
combined his interests in the 
Civil War with an homage for 
his love for Detroit and the state 
of Michigan.
Imminent Peril tells the story 
of Michigan’s Fifth Cavalry. It 
is a fascinating and educational 
read that reflects Lash’s meticu-
lous research into the subject. 
“The unit was actually 
inducted into the Army in 1862 
and did their training at Fort 
Wayne in Detroit,
” Lash said. 
“Most of the soldiers in the 
book are drawn from 
the actual Union 
Army ranks and the 
text incorporates 
their real names.
” 
Among the photo-
graphs in the book 
is one of the fort’s 
remaining barracks.
Lash said he wrote 
the book because he 
was specifically interested in 
three historical milestones: the 
battle of Gettysburg, the impris-
onment of calvary soldiers at 
the Andersonville prison camp 
and the sinking of the Sultana 
steamboat. After extensive 
research, Myles found that the 
Michigan 5th Calvary Regiment 
had experience with all three 
events. 
“It is a story of hardship and 
how much humans can endure,
” 
Lash said. These Michigan 
troops fought in some of the 
bloodiest and most critical bat-
tles, including Gettysburg. Later, 
some members of the Fifth 
Calvary were incarcerated at the 
Andersonville prison camp. 
Unfortunately, following 
the survivors’ release from 
prison, they were assigned to 
the Sultana riverboat for an 
ill-fated passage home. The 
Sultana was a former commer-

cial side-wheel steamboat that 
was often commissioned to 
transport troops. It sank when 
its four boilers exploded on 
the Mississippi River on April 
27, 1865. The death of 1,167 
people, including men from the 
Fifth Calvary, is still, to this day, 
the worst maritime disaster in 
United States history.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Their upcoming 60th Mumford 
High School reunion will be 
Myles and Linda Lash’s sec-
ond trip back to Michigan 
since May when they attended 
their grandson Max’s gradu-
ation from the University of 
Michigan.
They no doubt 
will pore over an 
edition of the Capri, 
the name of the 
Mumford 1964 High 
School yearbook, 
which Myles said 
was “solemnly dedi-
cated to the memory 
of President John 
Fitzgerald Kennedy.
”
“We’re also looking forward 
to seeing other Mumford cou-
ples like ourselves, who attend-
ed the prom with us and even-
tually married,
” he said. “We 
will also respectfully remember 
those that departed too soon.
“High school reunions can be 
bittersweet. After 60 years, there 
will be stories of good times 
and some sad reflections of the 
loss of classmates, but the mem-
ories of our Mumford days will 
be among the best.
” 
Added Linda, “You know, in 
talking to people that are of my 
age that did not go to Mumford, 
it’s kind of interesting to me to 
find out how many of them did 
not really enjoy high school, 
whereas I thought they were 
absolutely fabulous years.
” 
I would expect nothing less 
from the captain of the 1964 
Mumford High School cheer-
leading squad. Go, Mustangs! 

continued from page 12

Linda and 
Myles Lash at 
grandson Max’s 
graduation from 
U-M

