Harold provides a wealth of information on outport Newfoundland life in the mid-1900s that will inform later generations and stimulate the memories of older readers. Catching fish, shooting salt-water birds, killing seals, and harvesting wood for heat were a necessary part of surviving on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. Most of it was hard work but Harold explains how it was stimulating and rewarding. The book traces the life of a successful Newfoundlander from a small community on Indian Islands where the homes had no running water and toilets were outhouses to become a minister in the Provincial Government of Newfoundland.