Doc Brown is a retired physician living in Canaan with his wife, Patricia. The following is an edited interview.

I’m afraid I’m not a very colorful character to build a story on. Nothing spectacular has happened to me. Most people call me Doc Brown, that’s how people know me. My wife calls me Henry, but she’s about the only one.

I was in the Navy during the Second World War. We had a small outfit that was called the mobile explosives investigation unit. We poked around looking for Japanese ammunition of various kinds and sent them back to Washington to be analyzed. I saw pretty much of the Southwest Pacific doing that. I don’t know if that’s very exciting; mostly it was a tourist’s jaunt.

When I was discharged from the Navy and could use the GI Bill, I went into medical school thinking maybe I could repay the Good Lord for having me come back alive. But the account hasn’t been settled yet, and I don’t think it ever can be. I doubt I’ll ever have the ability to repay that, except to say thank you.

I had a little office downtown in Enfield. I would see patients there, and they’d go to Alice Peck Day if necessary. I would make house calls, but everybody else did, too. I delivered a lot of children, but everybody does that. Some people say it was in the thousands, but I don’t think so, not around here. People weren’t that prolific.

People build me up as though I was something unusual, but not at all. I was just a run-of-the-mill general practitioner. There were plenty of us around who took patients. We tried to help out where we could, is all. We were after some bucks but not the big ones.

I’m slowly dying of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The capacity of my lungs to expand and take in air is gradually decreasing, and my heart is gradually failing. The machinery is just wearing out, that’s all. One day, like the one-hoss shay, I’ll collapse and that’s it. When the time comes, you stop. It’s just part of being alive, is all.

They say life’s full of surprises, but mine’s been pretty regular. It’s been fun, but it hasn’t been spectacular. That’s just the way things panned out.

People sometimes show an interest in the experiences I’ve had, but that’s more to be polite, I think, to keep the conversation going. If there’s nothing to boast about, there’s no use saying anything.

I don’t think I could advise you on anything, really. Let’s see. What’s that they say in the Army? Keep your head cool, your feet dry and never volunteer.