Richard bode author biography

Richard Lester Bode was.
Josephgunnwriting.wordpress.com › 2017/10/17 › ode-to-author-richard-b.
Richard Bode worked at McGraw Hill and was editorial director and chief speechwriter at Burston-Marsteller.

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I first discovered author Richard Bode in 2014 when I stumbled upon his best-selling book First You Have to Row a Little Boat – Reflections on Life and Living while browsing in a local book store. I was immediately smitten by Bode’s elegant, rhythmic writing style and his rich, atmospheric storytelling as he presented life lessons through sailing metaphors. I was further intrigued as I learned that his stories were informed by his sailing adventures growing up in the 1940s in Bay Shore and on the waters of the Great South Bay off the southern coast of Long Island.

After reading First You Have to Row a Little Boat I read Bode’s first book, Blue Sloop At Dawn, which is an autobiographical novel that spans Bode’s life from early childhood through his early twenties, with emphasis on his teen years in Bay Shore. And after that I read Bode’s third and final book, Beachcombing At Miramar, written when he was sixty-eight years old, in which he reflects on his life through a l

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First You Have to Row a Little Boat: Reflections on Life & Living

October 10, 2016

I picture Richard Bode scanning the saltwater horizon with his youthful eyes and unintentionally crafting this beautiful elegy over the course of a young lifetime - a spark of insight here, a hastily written idea on a steno pad there - and finally gathering all of these ripe wisdoms, these little wonders of the world, into this simple culmination of a book. The journey of sailing and learning how to sail is truly such a meaningful metaphor for a fulfilling life.

I thank my father, who himself loves sailing, for giving this book to me at the right time - just as I finished my PhD and promptly decided to abandon that track for something that truly calls to my heart, intellect, and passion. After reading Bode's words about sailing, I feel even more sound in who I am and who I hope to be and to become.

I come now, at this late juncture of my life, to this sudden realization: I have no destination, no real destination, in the literal sense. The destination, the place toward which my life is tendi

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Introduction

I first discovered author Richard Bode in 2014 when I stumbled upon First You Have to Row a Little Boat – Reflections on Life and Living while browsing a local bookstore. I was immediately smitten by Bode’s elegant, rhythmic writing style and his rich, atmospheric storytelling as he presented life lessons through sailing metaphors. For me, the lessons struck a deep chord. I was further intrigued as I learned that his stories were informed by his sailing adventures growing up in the 1940s in Bay Shore and on the waters of the Great South Bay, along the southern coast of Long Island. This was just ten miles east from where I grew up, in North Merrick, some twenty years later. Now, each time I visit the beaches of Fire Island – which is often – I glance out my window as I cross the Robert Moses Causeway Bridge and try to imagine a fifteen-year-old Bode as he sails his sloop Circe, pointing for the Fire Island Lighthouse.

After reading First You Have to Row a Little Boat I read Bode’s first book, Blue Sloop At Dawn, an autobiographical novel that spa