Perkins recounts a life lived under a lucky star

KENT — There was a packed house at the Kent Memorial Library on Saturday, June 6, for local author Jim Perkins’ talk on his new book, “By Way of Luck: How Chance Shaped a Storied Life.”

The book tells the colorful story of how Perkins’ life was shaped by a seemingly endless series of “lucky events” that put him in the middle of changes that overtook the media industry in the second half of the 20th century.

Perkins opened the talk by explaining that he originally came up with the idea for the book when he began to make a list of the many lucky things that had happened to him throughout his life.

He began by chronicling a tough childhood in New Hampshire, during which he struggled mightily in school and socially. English was not his first language, and he could not speak very well. He was the son of two immigrants from Macedonia who came to the United States around the time of World War I. 

One day, he overhead his mother say in Macedonian, “The boy can’t talk.” Shortly after that, she found a boarding school in New England that was willing to take young Perkins on as a full scholarship student as long as he worked in the school’s kitchen as a dishwasher. Perkins enrolled and after five years of constant schooling in English, became the first student in the school’s history to be awarded a score of 100 on an essay for one of his classes.

He nearly threw the opportunity away when, late in his senior year, he was caught returning to his dorm room drunk. After being expelled from school, Perkins met with the school’s headmaster, who informed him that the school would need to inform Dartmouth College of his expulsion. The headmaster called the dean of admissions at Dartmouth, holding the phone away from his ear so Perkins could hear, and told him about the situation. The dean asked if the boarding school was rescinding their recommendation of Perkins. The headmaster explained that was not the case as Perkins had handled the situation well. The dean responded by saying the college would make no record of the incident on Perkins’ application. Two weeks later, he received a letter of admission to the school.

During his second year at Dartmouth, Perkins pledged Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He had the chance to meet Corey Ford, an author who was well-known at the time and had recently moved to the area. 

Perkins developed a relationship with Ford, who became his mentor and very close friend. He taught Perkins about life and writing and introduced him to the publishing world at a fairly high level. 

Following service in the Air Force, thanks to his connection, Perkins was hired as an editor at Doubleday with no prior experience.

These were just two of the many “lucky situations” that directly influenced the path of Perkins’ career and life. He went on to recount several other tales of opportunities he’d had and things he’d accomplished through what he described as a little skill and a lot of plain dumb luck.

Following the talk, there was a book signing and a reception.

— Sam Rathbun