The Sad Truth Behind a Generational Coming-of-Age Classic

“Summer of ‘42” tells a love story that was traumatic in real life

The affair between young Hermie and mature Dorothy received an idealized film version (credit: Warner Bros.)

In the summer of 1942, when New York author and screenwriter Herman Raucher was a young boy spending a family vacation on Nantucket Island, he had a romantic experience with an older woman. That one night they spent together haunted Raucher for years. Until…