The author
James Patrick Hutton
James Patrick Hutton has enjoyed two full careers—first as an officer in the Royal Canadian Navy and later as a senior administrator in post-secondary education.
He joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1968 as an electronics technician and served aboard several Canadian warships, including HMCS Assiniboine, HMCS Saskatchewan and HMCS Huron. He was later selected for commissioning and earned a Bachelor of Science from the Royal Roads Military College of Canada.
Through the Navy's postgraduate training program, he earned a Master of Science in Applied Physics from the University of Victoria and continued his studies in systems engineering at the Technical University of Nova Scotia. He rose through the ranks, from Ordinary Seaman to Commander and served in senior engineering and headquarters appointments, including work associated with Canada's naval shipbuilding program.
Following his military career, he started his career over again in post-secondary education. He served in senior administrative roles at universities and colleges including positions in facilities management and college services. His final apporintment before his final retirement was as the Vice President of Finance and Administration of a college. Across his working life, he developed a deep appreciation for the people who helped him learn, adapt and succeed.
In 2014, after a multifaceted 46-year career, he retired and returned to his hometown of Owen Sound, Ontario. Retirement has been anything but quiet. He continues to write, restore vintage radios through Old Fidelity Restorations , research issues important to veterans through his website at Veteran with Cancer Inc and his community via his website at, Vote Local Net and reflect on the lessons he has gathered throughout his life.
Roadblocks & Relationships brings those experiences together not as a prescription for how young people should live, but as an invitation to think about how they might respond when their own road takes an unexpected turn.