Growing up in a Roman Catholic household and working at a Protestant school can be incongruous. "You're working for the enemy," insisted author Fran Finn's father. In this memoir, Finn recalls not only this dissonance, but provides the captivating story of many of his intriguing adventures. From his upbringing in Torrington, Connecticut, to his first position as a house parent at a rural Pennsylvania private school at the age of twenty-three, to his worldwide travels, Temporary Sanity gives insight into this somewhat unconventional man. With an eye for detail, Temporary Sanity entertains with descriptions of student and teacher forays and his far-reaching treks to locales such as Alaska, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Iceland, Peru, Panama, and the Dominican Republic.
Poignant and humorous, this collection of personal stories touches on all the facets of Finn's life-from family, to religion, teaching, and traveling. Through it all, Temporary Sanity teaches life lessons about acceptance, pain, friendship, culture, loneliness, and the search for one's place in the world.