George Lucas, Jr. was born on May 14, 1944, to George Walton Lucas, Sr. and Dorothy (Bomberger) Lucas. He grew up in Modesto on Ramona Avenue with two older sisters, Ann and Kate, and a younger sister, Wendy, surrounded by close friends and a loving family. As a creative and inquisitive child, he built cities and landscapes for his train set, published a neighborhood newspaper, designed spooky houses with special effects, produced carnivals, built forts, and made a ramp for a homemade roller coaster. He read comic books, biographies, histories, and National Geographic, listened to radio adventure and comedy shows, participated in Cub Scouts, and watched television programs whose genres later influenced Star Wars and Indiana Jones. From 1949 to 1956 he attended John Muir Elementary School, then Roosevelt Jr. High School and Thomas Downey High School from 1956 to 1962. In 1955, after flying to Southern California to visit a close friend, he went to Disneyland on its second day open, beginning a lifelong enthusiasm for the park that later led him to help design rides based on his films. In 1959 he moved to a 14 acre walnut ranch on the edge of town, where he experimented with trick photography, developed photographs, read Mad Magazine, and listened to rock 'n roll. In 1960 he got his first car, a Fiat Bianchina, and began cruising Modesto's popular street loop with friends while listening to rock 'n roll on the radio, experiences that later inspired the soundtrack for American Graffiti. Between 1960 and 1962 he worked on his car at Foreign Car Service on Scenic Drive, prepared for autocross races with the Ecurie AWOL Car Club, attended races at places such as Laguna Seca as a pit crew member, and built a set for a senior-year production of Peter Pan. On June 12, 1962, just days before graduating from Thomas Downey High School, his Fiat was struck on the driver's side by a speeding Chevy Impala at Sylvan Avenue and Rexford Drive, flipping three times before crashing into a tree. His seatbelt broke during the crash and he was thrown from the car, which helped save his life, but he suffered critical chest and lung injuries and endured a long recovery that included two weeks in the hospital and weeks of daily physical therapy. Afterward, he decided to do something meaningful and significant with his life. From 1962 to 1964 he attended Modesto Jr. College, majored in anthropology, and earned an Associate in Arts degree. During that time, while photographing cars at a racetrack, he met cinematographer Haskell Wexler, who, impressed by his camera work, recommended that he apply to the School of Cinema at the University of Southern California.