“First drafts don’t  
have to be perfect.  
They just have  
to be written.”   
Seth Godin

For the past fifty years, I’ve had a desire to write a book about my experiences teaching in a Bahamian high school when I was a mere twenty years old. Through most of those years, I had neither the time nor the self-discipline to get started on this project. When I retired from teaching in June 2015, I began my second career as a writer. Since that time, I’ve published six books, all of which are available on Amazon. I’ve written about gratitude, life lessons, fatherhood, and, in an illustrated children’s book, the joys of Cherries in the Summer. 

In the past couple of years, I’ve been jotting down detailed memories about my experiences and the people I met in The Bahamas fifty years ago. Now it’s time to get to work writing the book. At this point in my life, as we embark upon the journey of a new year, I have the time, motivation, and self-discipline to get the job done. My goal is to have the book published by June 1. 

My recent visit to Nassau in November, a trip I took with my high school classmate Dan Pasini, who shared the experience of teaching in The Bahamas in the 1974-75 academic year, reminded me of what a special year that was in my life. I’m looking forward to tapping into Dan’s memories of that unique experience and including some of his insights and perspectives in the book.

Author James Lendall Basford once said, “The next best thing to the enjoyment of a good time is the recollection of it.” I am very much looking forward to this journey down memory lane, though as I jot down notes to get started, I’m realizing that the book will have to be the PG version of that memorable year.