George Boldt was born in Clayton, New York, a village with approximately eighteen hundred citizens, nearly as many dogs, and two seasons-August and winter. Throughout his childhood, George learned to rely on advice from his grandmother and her brother to help him navigate through the challenges of growing up. But everything changed the day his great uncle unexpectedly gave him the title to his beloved houseboat and asked him to transform it into a clubhouse for local boys.

In a life story that he proclaims is sixty-seven percent true, George leads others down an amusing path through his...