One of the biggest fears Joseph E. LeDoux had when he was growing up was of getting stuck in Eunice, La. His small hometown sits among creeks and rice fields, and its Cajun country roots give it a certain charm. It is hard to swing a possum without hitting a good gumbo restaurant. An old theater downtown hosts the weekly Rendezvous des Cajun radio show, a yipping version of Prairie Home Companion, only with dancing, and anyone can join the live studio audience for a mere $5.

But when LeDoux was coming of age in the 1960s, he found Eunice too sedate. He did some radio disc jockeying in high school, and the era's music, along with his own inquisitiveness, drew his attention to the wider world. His parents, however, told him they would pay for college only

This article was originally published with the title Mastery of Emotions.

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