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a collection of books by Saipan-based writers at Joeten-Kiyu public library
SAIPAN: Most Writers per Square Mile? Yes, we can!
by Walt F.J. Goodridge, assisted by Marlon Regaton, Rosalyn Ajoste, Ray DeLeon Guerrero, Beth Demapan and Lisa Hacskaylo. This article appears here in the Marianas VarietyIt must be something in the
water or the lagoon's many inspiring shades of "saipan blue!"
It may be the documented fact we have "the cleanest air in
the United States"--and the effect that may have on
creativity. Maybe it's our proximity to the Marianas Trench,
and we're pulling deep thoughts from the deepest part of the ocean!
Or maybe it's the tropical climate, and that (it's said) we're cited
by the Guinness Book of World Records as having "the least
fluctuating temperatures in the world." Whatever the reason,
we may have one more thing to add to the list of what makes Saipan so
special: I suggest to you we may also qualify as having "the
most writers per square mile!"
Work with me on this one. From
my unique vantage point as a book coach here on Saipan, it occurred
to me recently that for such a small island, there are an awful lot
of writers churning out books. Now, as you may know, Saipan is
approximately 12 miles long by 5.6 miles wide, with a total land area
of 44.55 square miles (let's say 45). What if, I thought, Saipan
actually has more writers per square
mile than any place else on the planet? That would be a
feather in our collective cap we could boast about and use to carve
out a new type of tourism!
To test my hypothesis, I set off
to compile a thorough list! I recruited the help of Marlon Regaton of
Bestseller Bookstore, Lisa Hacskaylo of Northern Marianas College,
librarian Rosalyn Ajoste, and librarians Ray DeLeon Guerrero and Beth
Demapan of the Joeten Kiyu Public Library, and to help create a list
of Saipan-based, Saipan-inspired authors who met the following
criteria:
1. Author need not be a current
resident, but must have been born on or living on Saipan during the
authorship (not necessarily publication) of at least one title.
2. Author may reside permanently
elsewhere as long as he/she returns to Saipan for inspiration.
3. Books may be independently
published and can be on any topic fiction or non-fiction.
A few days of exciting research
ensued, and I now present, in alphabetical order, the first iteration
of the "Ultimate Saipan Writers List" of individuals
who--inspired perhaps by Saipan's sunshine, water, air, history,
cultures and lifestyle--turned a passion for sports, cooking, poetry
or unique life experience into these timeless literary works!
*= Writer's Workshop attendee or
person I've coached on product creation.
Former
Governor, Juan N. Babauta:
In Retrospect
Kurt
Barnes: Sports
Legends of Micronesia
Beverly
Battaglia (former
Tinian resident): (1) A
Pictorial History of the Northern Mariana Islands, Part 1; (2)
A Pictorial
History of the Northern Mariana Islands Part II: The Japanese Era
Manuel
Flores Borja and Jose Somorang Roppul: Directory
of Traditional Healers and Medicinal Plants in the Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana Islands
Joaquin
Flores Borja with
Manuel Flores Borja and Sandra Chung:Estreyas
Marianas Chamorro
Captain
Carl Brachear*: How
to Become a Professional Handyman
Genevieve
S. Cabrera: Historic and Cultural Sites of the CNMI
Marie
S. Castro (Miss Soledad):
Without A Penny in my
Pocket: My Bittersweet Memories Before and After World War II
Dennis
Chan: Our Northern Islands:
The first expedition to the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument
Bob
Coldeen: (1) Bumps
in Paradise - Tales from Micronesia and Beyond;
Zaldy Dandan*: (2017)We'll
Kiss Like It's Air and We're Running Out of It: Poems & Other
Impieties
Justice
Jose S. Dela Cruz:
From Colonialism to
Self-Government: The Northern Marianas Experience
Don
Farrel: (1) History
of the Northern Mariana Islands; (2)
The Sacrifice of Guam, 1919-1943;
(3) Guam: A Brief
History; (4)The
Pictorial History of Guam: Liberation 1944 with
Phyllis Koontz
Nancy
Bo Flood: (1)
Marianas Island Legends: Myth and Magic with
Connie J. Adams (Illustrator); (2) From the Mouth of the Monster
Eel: Stories from Micronesia with Margo Vitarelli; (3)
Micronesian Legends with Beret Strong; (4) No Name Baby;
Pacific Island Legends, and
others.
Thomas
Frank: (1)The
Wrecking Crew
John Furey:
Island Ecology & Resource Management
+
15 contributing authors!
Guy
Gabaldon:
(1) Saipan
Suicide Island; (2)
American
Betrayed!
Lloyd
Glick*: (1) From Bugle Boy to Battleship: a Battle of Saipan
Veteran's Memoir as told to Walt Goodridge
Walt
F.J. Goodridge: (1)
Saipan Living;
(2) Doing
Business on Saipan; (3)
Jamaican on
Saipan; (4)
Chicken
Feathers & Garlic Skin; (5)
Saipan Now! (6)
How to Become a
Nomadpreneur (2017); (7)
Turn Your Passion Into Profit; (8)
Ducks in a Row;
(9) Living True To Your Self;
(10) Jamaican
in China; (11)The
Obama Legacy, (12)
The Obama
Legacy Timeline; (13)
Donald Trump: Let's Look at the Bright Side; (14)
Masculinity
2.0;
(15) The Man
Who Lived Forever; (16)
Fit to Breed;
(17)
A Clean Cell
Never Dies, and
others.
Arin
Greenwood:
(1) Tropical
Depression; (2) Save
the Enemy
Holani: Jihad:
Holy War in Paradise
Dr.
John B. Joyner*:
(1)This
Baby Can Speak; (2)This
Baby Can Speak (Chinese) with
Angie Hui; (3)This
Baby Can Speak (Spanish) with
Walt F.J. Goodridge
Dr. David Khorram:
(1)World
Peace, a Blind Wife, and Gecko Tails: Intriguing thoughts from an
island on making life happier and healthier, and laughing along the
way; (2) Don't
Go Blind From Diabetes: An easy to understand guide to keeping your
vision for people with diabetes; (3)
Medical Procedure
Technical Manual
P.F.
Kluge: (1)
The Master
Blaster; (2)
The Edge of Paradise: America in Micronesia (lived on Saipan while
writing), and
others.
Katrina
Manning:
(1) Marmalade's
Exciting Tale (2) Lupus Obscurus (Children)
Dolores
Ichihara Marciano with Rodante Guarda (Illustrator): I kandet
Siha Gi Langet
Lino
Olopai: The
Rope of Tradition
Tony
Pellegrino: Shrimp: The Way
You Like It (a cookbook
with Joe Race)
Bruce
M. Petty: Saipan: Oral
Histories of the Pacific War
Joe
Race: (1) Moon
over Manila; (2)
Ramblin 'On;
(3) Continuin' On
and
others.
Lynn
Raulerson, Agnes Rinehart: Trees and Shrubs of the Northern
Mariana Islands
Dr.
Elizabeth Rechebei & Sam Mcphetres: History
of Palau:Heritage of an Emerging Nation
Riza
Oledan-Ramos*: (1)
The Boy Who Dreamed to Be With His Parents on Saipan with
Rodante Guarda (children); (2) Germ Stopper Boy with
Rodante Guarda (children); (3) Drinking Seawater: of storms
& survival with Walt
Goodridge
Scott
Russell: Tiempon I
Manmofo'na and
others
Dave
Sablan: A
Degree of Success Through Curiosity
Barbara
Sher "The Games Lady":
(1)
Social, Motor and
Sensory Games,(2)
Home Grown Baby,
(3) Extraordinary
Play with Ordinary Things,
(4)Self-esteem
Games,
(5) Early
Intervention Games
and many others! (For parents and children)
Alexander
Spoehr: Saipan: Ethnology of a War-Devastated Island
William Stewart: (1)
Ghost Fleet of the Truk
Lagoon: An Account of "Operation Hailstone"; (2)
Business reference &
investment guide to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
=: Kita Mariana Jichi Renpo bijinesu toshi gaido
Donald
M. Topping, Pedro M. Ogo, Bernadita C. Dungca: Chamorro-English
Dictionary
First
Lady Diann Tudela Torres:
A B Ch Yan Mas
(Children)
Turtlesong
Young Writer's Workshop: Costumes
of Micronesia (organized by Kathryn Tutten-Puckett +
10 young writers)
Kathryn
Tutten-Puckett, et al.: We Drank Our Tears
Scott
Vogt and Laura L. Williams: Common
Flora
and Fauna of the Mariana Islands
Chun
Yu Wang:* Chicken Feathers & Garlic Skin: Diary of a
Chinese Garment Factory Girl on Saipan with
Walt Goodridge
Whispering Palms School
Cookbook Committee:
International Cookbook(5
Committee members: Lynn
Corella, Jill Arenovski, Karen Buettner, Janet McCullough, Heidi
Yelin)
Franicia
Tomokane White: Count Them with Me; I Know You Love
Me, Mommy and Daddy;The Blessings of Visiting Grandma and Grandpa;
Healthy ABCs(Children)
Dottie Wintterle with Judy
Flores (Illustrations) and Ann Rivera (Translator):
Grandma's Love
(Children)
At press time:
Jay Sanchez and Epiphanio Cabrera, Henry Sablan, Lynette Villagomez and Bobby Cruz, MHS Art Club's anti-bullying comic book writers! Daisy Demapan, Valentine N. Sengebau, Christy Sakaziro Honorable Mention: Videoographers and Book Ideas:
• Cinta Kaipat:Liewaila: A Micronesian Story "The Carolinians" Video Documentary
• Mike Tripp: The Underwater World of Saipan Video
• Dan Shorr*: Looking for America Video
• Marlon Regaton: Marlon of Bestseller is the idea man behind my own Saipan Now: a photo adventure, and the soon-to-be-published Saipan Carolinian Language Book series
CONCLUSION
& PROOF:
Jay Sanchez and Epiphanio Cabrera, Henry Sablan, Lynette Villagomez and Bobby Cruz, MHS Art Club's anti-bullying comic book writers! Daisy Demapan, Valentine N. Sengebau, Christy Sakaziro Honorable Mention: Videoographers and Book Ideas:
• Cinta Kaipat:Liewaila: A Micronesian Story "The Carolinians" Video Documentary
• Mike Tripp: The Underwater World of Saipan Video
• Dan Shorr*: Looking for America Video
• Marlon Regaton: Marlon of Bestseller is the idea man behind my own Saipan Now: a photo adventure, and the soon-to-be-published Saipan Carolinian Language Book series
At first
blush, we've identified 63 published writers (over 90 with group
collaborations/special mentions) with books on sale at
Bestseller or online, or available at the public library! Now, let's
apply the GLAD Hypothesis & Formula (that would be Goodridge's
Land Author Density
Hypothesis & Formula in case you weren't paying attention):
GLAD
Formula: writers divided by square miles =
writers/sq.mile
63/45 = 1.4 writers/sq.mi
(OMG!)
Eureka!
It's true! It's official! At just first blush, we're at almost 1.5
writers per square mile! Someone please do the research and let me
know if any other US state, territory or commonwealth can boast the
same! Internationally, forget what you'll read about Iceland (that one in ten
will publish a book)! Don't be swayed by Norway's reputation (of
having the best government support for authors). This
is a major accomplishment!
However, we can do better! We must
do better! If we're to credibly secure this new identity, we need to
base it on the square miles of the recognized "inhabited"
islands of Saipan/Tinian/Rota (45+39+33=117sq.mi), or even the
entire CNMI (~179-185sq.mi)! We can do it! This was just a
preliminary search and we know there are others out there!
So,
I need your help! No, the CNMI needs your help! Did we miss anyone
you know? Find any errors? Add yourself and books you know of at
www.saipanwriters.com where you can view the growing list (with
author bios and links). Email me at walt@saipanwriters.com, and
follow the growth at Facebook.com/Saipanwriters!
Meanwhile, however, spread the
word! Tell your friends: "Saipan: we've got writers for
miles!!"
Check out Walt's Saipan-Specific brands
Download Walt's CV/Media Kit
Breaking News from Walt:
LOCAL AUTHOR RECEIVES CNMI GOVERNOR'S HUMANITIES AWARD(S)
A few weeks ago, a former workshop attendee and coaching client revealed that she nominated me to be considered for this year’s Governor’s Humanities Award here on Saipan. I thanked her, but I didn’t really believe I qualified because...(read why at www.jamaicaninchina.com/humanities-award)
A few weeks ago, a former workshop attendee and coaching client revealed that she nominated me to be considered for this year’s Governor’s Humanities Award here on Saipan. I thanked her, but I didn’t really believe I qualified because...(read why at www.jamaicaninchina.com/humanities-award)
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