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As a boy on a farm in England, author Martin never imagined he would one day be a sailor in the Royal Navy, a Christian mission worker overseas, and a retiree in Australia. As a child, he joined in farm work with old-fashioned parents who modeled a strict, simple lifestyle. He learned to catch fish with his hands, shoot game, and drive a tractor. Often competing with an older brother, the teenage Martin looked for employment away from the family farm. At age fifteen, he signed a 12-year contract with the Royal Navy, became a radio operator and later a Helicopter Aircrewman, married his sweetheart Liz, served in the Falklands conflict, and was once praised in a national newspaper for a heroic rescue on stormy seas. After a profound, dramatic re-commitment to Christianity, he and Liz undertook some years of charitable work in Africa.
Martin writes about his life’s journey in language that demonstrates intelligence, organizational ability, a sharp memory, and occasional bursts of hilarity. In this wide-ranging memoir, he chronicles his remarkable progression in frank, modest terms. He writes with equal verve of the charms and chores of rural life, his trials as a sea-sick sailor, his world travels with the military, and his dedication to Christian ideals in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. The religious fervor that ignited him in later years now aids in his quiet acceptance of some of the new changes he and Liz face as they grow older. He boldly states, “we look forward to our next adventure, whatever that may be.” Martin’s well-paced autobiography sheds light on the possibilities that were and are still available to people willing to challenge themselves and go the extra mile or, in the author’s case, the extra few thousand miles.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review