All around the Circle

A young, recently graduated "come-far-away" from the Canadian mainland takes his first professional job as an urban and regional planner in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in the early 1970s. Although he felt completely inept and unqualified, he is thrown into assignments where he has to make decisions for the sake of these communities in need of essential planning services.
This light-hearted and engaging romp through Newfoundland was at a time when it was still seen as an exotic location in which to visit, no less a place to live in, and is a story that reflects upon the times and the people who lived there.
The main character consequently attracts others from his alma mater to join him creating some unusual things to happen in Newfoundland. Based on a true story, stretched here and there, like a Newfoundlander would tell it, it illustrates events and people from that period that were most memorable to the author. It also paints a picture of an island in North America that has its own unique sayings: "Whadd'ya at?"; "Stays wheres yas at and I'll comes where yas to!" and "I'se de b'ye dat catches de fish an takes it 'ome to Liser". It also has some of the most unusual food: Flipper pot pie, Cod Tongues and Cod Cheeks, Britches and Fish and Brewis. The names of towns are unforgettable like Come by Chance, Virgin Arm, Dildo, Placentia Bay, and Cupids. Read about some unforgettable characters such as the former Premier, Joey R. Smallwood; Rufus, the fisherman who refuses to die and the ghost of the Ferryland Lighthouse. And wonderful events like "Screechin'in - a cod-kissing event to make you a citizen of the Rock", "Summer starts when the Capelin come in"; "Fishing for 900-pound tuna"; "Rioting in company-owned towns"; "How to arbitrate conflict of interest cases, Newfoundland-style"; and the most unusual of them all - "Trying to start the very first Newfie Oktoberfest"!