Latin term genius loci—“the spirit of a place.” Although the modern use of the word “genius” has allocated it to the individual, this original use encodes the indelible role of place in personhood. Comets of chance and tides of circumstance sculpt the shorelines of the self to make us who we are—we can no more claim all credit for our achievement than deflect all blame for our impediments, and it is often difficult to separate the elements of life that make for fortune from those that make for misfortune. Were Mitchell’s accidents of birth lucky
