Newark, New Jersey, 1944. Bucky Cantor is a playground director and a hero to his charges when a polio outbreak occurs. When it begins ravaging his kids, Bucky gives in to the wishes of his fiancÔee and takes a job at a Pocono summer camp. Years later, one of his former kids runs into Bucky, now a shambles, and hears the rest of his story of piercing if needless guilt, bad luck, and poor decisions.