Grafton Thomas was born in 1915 into a world where horse-drawn wagons still competed with Henry Ford’s Model T on city streets. Men were slowly shedding their mustaches and women their corsets, the Boy Scouts had just arrived, the newfangled invention was "radio," and America had yet to fight in any World War. This peripatetic story begins in Hinsdale, Illinois, and closes in Northport, Michigan. Along the way, we will sojourn at Olivet College; in small towns like Berlin Heights and Florence in Ohio, and Spring Valley and Alton in Illinois; and in the cities of Rockford and Chicago. "I earnestly wish to share a secret," writes the author. "Always be grateful for the people and circumstances that have blessed you. Gratitude is by far the best springboard for a happy and constructive life. Gratitude will always bring light and scatter the darkness."