Joe Casey left a comfortable home at seventeen in search of knowledge and adventure, and successively sought it in surveying, flying, university and fraternity parties; then he agonized over the death of friends, worked in a paper mill, a foundry, as a camp counsellor, became a seminarian (seven years), a priest, a hospital CYO and Job Corps chaplain, lifeguard, and clinical counsellor. Later, after being released from his vows, he became a husband, a father, a companion to a series of dogs, a master scuba instructor, a taxi driver, a teacher and a serious motorcyclist. His story involves a host of others, both notable and ordinary people, and a series of events that changed his life and the lives of others.