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- My First Hundred Years
This is the self-portrait of a missionary, minister, and teacher, at age 100, sharing the adventures of his childhood in Korea, exhilarating academic career at Princeton University, and then a lifetime of purposeful dedication to the ministry and to teaching. The author, a poet and gifted prose writer, engages the reader in beautiful landscapes of rural Korea, a trans-Siberian journey in the 1930s, his pioneering ministry in the desert of northern Chile, and the throes and conscientious commitment to civil rights in the 1960s. His life partnership with Martha, a church musician, features prominently in the book, as does their experience with her Alzheimer's disease. The writer shares moments of epiphany, and the discovery of God's will, represented by turning points in a life lived on three continents.
More than just a memoir, this is a book full of devotional meaning and spiritual inspiration, for readers who enjoy a good story and excellent prose.
Donald R. Fletcher continues to write, having published nine books since 2003. Born in 1919, he grew up in Korea, son of Presbyterian medical missionaries; earned degrees at Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary; and served the Presbyterian Church in Chile, the Caribbean, and at headquarters. He also taught at high school, college, and university levels in New Jersey, Alabama, and Texas. In 2007 he moved to Lions Gate, a continuing care retirement community, with his wife, Martha, caring for her until her death from Alzheimer’s disease in 2014.
“Don uses incredible storytelling to convey the journey of his first one-hundred years. In reading this narrative you will feel you are there, yourself, in so many places, with his vivid descriptions. His experience and witness to a life where family, faith, heartache, and abundant joy are evident will put a smile on your face, but have tissues ready as well.”
—Deborah G. Brincivalli, Executive Presbyter, Presbytery of West Jersey, Presbyterian Church (USA)
“To travel with Don on his one-hundred-year life adventure is to go around the world with a master storyteller. Don’s personal recollections are told poetically with details of a time and life lived joyously and fully. I love this book!”
—Lorie Truitt, English teacher (retired), Cherry Hill High School West, Cherry Hill, New Jersey
“This has been a warm and passionate journey that I never wanted to end—and it hasn't! I'm waiting for the next one-hundred years!”
—J. Wagner, First Presbyterian Church of Janvier, Janvier, New Jersey