22603: Black: Thank you Hugh Cave (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: john black <johnmackenzieblack@yahoo.com>

Always, at someone's passing, we think to say thanks.
Failing that, the temptation is to eulogize in
someway, perhaps hoping our good feeling will find its
way to the person, or to a loved one. Not bad, I
guess, but how much better it is when we think to pay
our tribute in time for it to be heard directly.

I wish I'd said thank you to Hugh Cave.

I owe him gratitude for the many wonderful days and
weeks I've spent in Haiti, as he was a very big part
of the reason I first visited there. Bored one night,
the way only a teenager can be, I let my eyes roam the
titles in Dad's library until they landed on a sky
blue spine marked "Haiti: High Road to Adventure." The
title led me to open the book. Then, each page lead to
the next. By the time it was over, Hugh had lead me to
commit: someday Haiti.

Find this book if you can, and read it. Give it to
people who ask you: "Why Haiti?"

A superbly effective travelogue of the 50s, it worked
its magic on me in the mid-sixties, and still felt
accurate in 1980. It's been 15 years since my last
re-reading so I can't promise you won't see some
things wrong, but my hunch is: even fifty years after
its publication, you will find it an easy and highly
pleasurable read and an accurate bringing-to-life of
those marvelous unchanging aspects of Haiti's allure.

High Road to Adventure is the rare book which makes
you do things. If you've not been to Haiti, you will
want to go. Once there, you will see the place better.
And, when you get home, it draws you to an immediate
re-reading, and makes sure you re-enjoy both Haiti and
Hugh's wonderful book.

Thank you, Hugh Cave. I wish I'd thought to send this
e-mail much sooner.

John Black



__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we.
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail