Henry A. Shute, born in Exeter, New Hampshire, five years before the outbreak of hostilities in the Civil War, lived well into World War II. His life thus spanned a period of tremendous technological advance and social change, global upheaval in two world wars, and the abandonment of many older ideals and values. But Judge Shute (he served as justice of the Exeter Police Court for more than fifty years) was never shifted from his moorings by the tide of change that swirled around him. He loved the small town of Exeter and all his writings reflect that love. Though he did at times satirize the double standards and the artificiality of some of its citizens and poke fun at some of its conventions and mores, he never really wanted to be anything other than an "Exeter boy."

The oldest son of George and Joanna Simpkins Shute, "Plupy...