Born in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, A.A. MACKENZIE struggled through elementary and secondary education there.  He worked as a farmer, telephone lineman, factory hand, and schoolteacher in between bouts of post-secondary education at St. Francis Xavier and Dalhousie Universities.  He eventually landed rather uneasily, in academic life, and is currently teaching Canadian and Maritime Provinces history at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish.