In The Times of My Life, The Reverend James R. Squire provides us with the story of his life; a trove of lessons learned from 45 years as priest, counselor, and teacher; and an opportunity to reflect on the reader’s own life. Squire taught ethics for 38 years. He called it “full-contact ethics”, for once a student entered the room they might be asked to engage in a number of individual and interpersonal, real-world ethical challenges. This book is a “full-contact memoir”. It will immediately get you thinking about your core values, your faith, the current state of your relationships, and the grit and strength you need to move forward. Some parts of it will be difficult to read. Some parts may make you laugh out loud. One of Squire’s classmates in first through twelfth grade in public school, David Spence, wrote the following:

“[This is an] entertaining and engaging read that is full of wit and wisdom, sorrow and joy, but most of all a chronicle of a life well lived and what it should mean to be human. Those of a certain age will be reminded, for better or worse, what it was like to grow up in the 50’s and 60’s in working-class America. Those of any age will find much food for thought. Socrates is supposed to have said, ‘The unexamined life is not worth living’. This memoir is an invitation to begin the examination in hope of learning how we make our lives richer when we strive to enrich the lives of others.”