Author
How I Wound Up With This Book and this Blog
At the 2006 FITUR travel-trade fair in Madrid I fell into a casual conversation with the representative attending the New York City stand. We talked about N.Y., tourism, Spain, the usual. As I was leaving he said to me, “I heard you talking with the guy on the next stand. Why do you speak such good Spanish?” I told him I’d lived here for almost 40 years. “Wow,” he said, “how did that happen?” I told him the truth: “I just got bored and discouraged with where the U.S. was heading back in 1968, and I went looking for a better place. I discovered Spain, fell for it in a big way, and eventually renounced my American citizenship in order to take Spanish nationality.”
The New Yorker nearly fell over, said he’d never heard anything like it, wondered why anyone would ever swap an American passport for a Spanish one. “It’s a long story,” I said. On the four-hour drive home to Granada I started thinking about that encounter. If just mentioning my story could make a normal American swoon, maybe I should write it up and try to get it published.
That was two years ago. Now the book is written and I’m seeking a publisher for it. Hence this blog. Shouldn’t I have thought about that before I started writing? Well, probably I should have, but I was so fired by enthusiasm and the issues at hand that I just dived into it.
Short bio:
Born: Jackson, MI, 1943
Graduated MSU: 1965
Discharged from Army: Apr. 1968
Arrived in Spain: Dec. 1968
Captured last proper English girl: Oct. 1969
Installed ourselves in an inland Spanish village: Oct. 1969
Granted Spanish nationality: Apr. 1984
Had some children, grandchildren
Discovered what life on this planet was about
Never left
Contact me: mike@worldprintmakers.com
Fascinating blog you have here.
I hope you find a publisher, your story sounds like an interesting read.
Deseo,querido Miguel, te siente bien el café en ese paisaje elegido por Maureen y tú como paraiso. Juan de Loxa. Abrazos.
Interesting Story! I look forward to reading your book one day. I’ll definitely be coming back to this blog.
I had written on my blog just how much I wished I had been able to attend some to the talks in Granada and your post on Mr. Ramadan led me to your blog. Cheers to a fellow North American living in Spain. Thanks for some of the links too.