In July, 1981, I took a chartered trip from the United States to China. At the time there were no hotels catering to Americans and only restaurants that served “real” Chinese food (like chicken with their beaks and claws still intact). Our group — you could only go in groups in those very early days — stayed at the State Guest House, the same place Nixon had stayed years earlier when China was beginning to normalize relations with the United States. On that trip, I met Patricia Convery and her daughter, Janice. We all became fast friends and have stayed in touch ever since that memorable trip. The Converys lived in Haiti and I visited them there. We explored the island together and they even took me to a voodoo ceremony (and, yes, they do “sacrifice” real animals.) A few years ago, we all met again in New York City and reminisced for hours about our adventures in China. Janice lived in Los Angeles at the same time I was there in the 1980s. While there, she worked on films and music videos. After I left LA to move to New York, I heard that Janice had become a locomotive engineer in New Mexico. I remember being astounded by her sudden and unusual career change. But I learned that Janice has always been into transportation, or perhaps, the devices by which we travel. These include ships, planes, trains, motorcycles and automobiles. And, she always liked to write as well. Some months ago, we began an email exchange about a book she was working on. Though there’s usually very little money in writing these days, I always get excited when friends take the dive into doing a book. They never understand going in how hard it will be...and, of course, they can’t imagine how rewarding it is to finish the damn thing! Janice has the right stuff. Unlike most people, she actually finished the book and now its out. It’s called “Dogs in the Sun: A Tropical Odyssey.” It’s about a boat, a baby and a body that travels from the virgin shores of Acapulco in 1967 to the gritty banks of Port-au-Prince in 1986. The book is the tale of four misfits whose paths collide on the last voyage of RMS Queen Mary, during which a child is born, relinquished, and later called to dissolve the life of one of his mothers, leading him to discover what it means to be fully born. I have not read the entire book, but the sample pages on Amazon grabbed me instantly. Yes, Janice is a very GOOD writer. And she wrote about what she knew...the places she has lived and her love of travel. Only fitting that I met her on one of best trips of my life. Congratulations to Janice Convery. Publishing a book is no small thing.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 21:09:43 +0000
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