A Global Golfing Safari

On Japan.Relaxing in a bath, watching Mt.Fuji change color, no one believes more fervently than a Japanese that a bad day on the course is far better than a good day at the office.

On golf and marriage. Golf should never be a battleground any more than a passion for flying kites, stamp collecting or chasing butterflies should threaten an otherwise successful union. When we love each, other we find ways to make each other happy. We learn to compromise, and instead of playing two rounds over the week-end, we settle for twenty seven holes on Saturday, and maybe a quick nine on Sunday when no one is looking.

On the yips. Mentioning this misfortune to golfing grandsons, they thought the yips was just another disagreeable stomach ailment suffered by senior citizens and wished me a speedy recovery, while others, with a deeper knowledge of the game, refused to discuss it as they feared the dreaded disease was contagious.

On fathers and sons. Fathers like to see their offspring in their own image. If Dad has been a keen baseball player, the new arrival will have a mitt on his hand before his eyes are open; the fisherman expects his son to be looking for worms as soon as he can crawl; and there are few driveways in the United States without a basketball net so Dad and junior can shoot hoops while Mom makes dinner. My first son was presented with a putter sized for a four year old.

In the spring of 2009, there was a party in Sarasota for a golfing group that had played together during 'the season' and each was asked to entertain. Some sang, did imitations, juggled, and one of the talented wives performed a remarkable Charleston. My offering was a poem based on a classic by Rudyard Kipling that every schoolboy learns in England. In my version, the lessons we learn from playing golf were the focus and it was very well received.Encouraged by this success, I wrote about the simple pleasure of sharing breakfast in bed with my wife on a Sunday morning. Friends said they enjoyed this one too. So, believing I had stumbled on a new career that would keep me busy in my retirement, I have been writing furiously ever since. Most of the poems are drawn from personal experiences, past and present.

Nudists are rarely asked what inspired them to be nudists in the first place. Was it something they caught on a cruise ship, or can nudism be explained away, perhaps, as a family trait like baldness or a fear of heights? In I'll Catch the Sun, author Richard Langdon Cook ponders this and other questions in a unique memoir, penned by a man who simply prefers being 'outside' his clothes rather than 'in' them.

While making a compelling case for nudism, this memoir also provides a look at the author's global experiences in Cyprus, Thailand, the Seychelles, South Africa, France, Hawaii, and the Caribbean. An engaging storyteller, Cook shares his thoughts on the English, the Japanese, and offers excellent advice on what not to do in a public bathhouse in Tokyo

Woven between amusing anecdotes generated by the lifestyle are musings on the language and morality of nudism, personal relationships, the music revolution, and culinary delights prepared in the nude or otherwise. Supplemented with photographs, I'll Catch the Sun is the story of a well-traveled man who has lived a most interesting life in his pursuit of the sun.

A Global Golfing Safari

On Japan.Relaxing in a bath, watching Mt.Fuji change color, no one believes more fervently than a Japanese that a bad day on the course is far better than a good day at the office.

On golf and marriage. Golf should never be a battleground any more than a passion for flying kites, stamp collecting or chasing butterflies should threaten an otherwise successful union. When we love each, other we find ways to make each other happy. We learn to compromise, and instead of playing two rounds over the week-end, we settle for twenty seven holes on Saturday, and maybe a quick nine on Sunday when no one is looking.

On the yips. Mentioning this misfortune to golfing grandsons, they thought the yips was just another disagreeable stomach ailment suffered by senior citizens and wished me a speedy recovery, while others, with a deeper knowledge of the game, refused to discuss it as they feared the dreaded disease was contagious.

On fathers and sons. Fathers like to see their offspring in their own image. If Dad has been a keen baseball player, the new arrival will have a mitt on his hand before his eyes are open; the fisherman expects his son to be looking for worms as soon as he can crawl; and there are few driveways in the United States without a basketball net so Dad and junior can shoot hoops while Mom makes dinner. My first son was presented with a putter sized for a four year old.