I moved to a small island in Newfoundland’s Placentia Bay. Newfoundland was settled mainly by fishermen from western England and from Ireland; to this day more than 80 percent of the population is of that origin. Yet I have been told that, geologically, Newfoundland is part of the Appalachian chain, with a piece of Scotland...

I did not mean to harm anyone when I bought a Bachelor of Arts degree in Child Psychology for $100. I meant it to be a bitter joke on myself I was going to hang it up in my room, much as an important man might hang a Playboy cartoon on a wall in his...