Did I Grow Up On Or Near A Children's Book?

Recently I discovered I once had a classmate whose name sounded like it was from a children's book.  It had never occurred to me, so when I was talking about him I thought I had made the name up.  Then I thought of his next-door neighbor whose name was alliterative & then the street on which they lived & then the name of the creek near where they lived.  It would've fit perfectly in a children's book.

We had been friends I believe in first grade.  Maybe second.  I remember one day - I don't know why I did this - I brought all my comic books up to school.  They all fit in a large paper grocery bag.  I guess I wanted to show them to him.  Some time later, he sent me a package with an issue of Detective Comics in it.  We went to the same schools - elementary, middle, & high - but were really never friends after those first few grades.  He grew up tall & thin.  At some point in high school, I ran into him & called him by the name I had used in middle school, but it was a diminutive he rejected.  That was literally the last time I ever saw him.

His next-door neighbor & I were never friends, but I suppose we were friendly.  We knew each other mainly in elementary school.  Years later, when I was hosting a training session for KOOP, I recognized the name of a trainee & realized it was his older brother, who had been two years ahead of us in school.  I don't know if he actually knew me, but I guess he knew my name, because he seemed to recognize me, & he became a great volunteer & a good programmer & I daresay we became friends.

At some party, the older brother brought the younger, who had had a rough time of it in life.  I didn't recognize him at all.  We didn't have much to talk about.  & that was probably the last time I'll ever see him.

This came up because I was talking the other day to someone with the same first name - who spelled it the same way.  I suspected he had wanted to reject the childish diminutive in the same manner.  Then I realized the picture I was painting:

My childhood classmate's name was Robbie Spangle.  His neighbor was Bryan Boyden.  They lived on Glenbrook Drive.  Next to Duck Creek.  Where in a fictional land they solved mysteries & got into wholesome boyish shenanigans.

Too bad there are so few Garys in children's books.  & almost certainly no Gary Dickersons.