Biography & Autobiography Adventurers & Explorers
Trapped In Paradise
Views of My Cuba
- Publisher
- Hidden Brook Press
- Initial publish date
- Jun 2010
- Category
- Adventurers & Explorers
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781897475577
- Publish Date
- Jun 2010
- List Price
- $12.95
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Description
Blurbs:
115 Words
Trapped In Paradise, is a memoir in poetry, prose and photography. It is more than just a travel log of a bike trip from Holguín to Santiago de Cuba with a Canadian and Cuban friend. It includes subjective observations about Cuba while looking at some social problems and its kind hearted people. Broken into short chapters Trapped In Paradise is often humorous in its portrayal of events, from having espresso in the ditch, to sleeping in a brothel. Along with being an enlightening stimulating read that will teach you something about the unique nature of this island country it is a fun and easy book for anyone interested in travelling in general or Cuba specifically.
94 Words
See Cuba through the eyes of a middle-aged Canadian man on a bike in the mountains travelling from city to city. This is a fun memoir that will introduce the reader to a Cuba that most tourists will never see. Coffee in the ditch, pushing to the top of a mountain, coasting down to the sea, sleeping in a brothel, travelling shoulder to shoulder with Cubans in a gravel truck with the lighthearted wit of a wide eyed explorer. Don’t even think about seeing Cuba this way until you read Trapped in Paradise first.
163 Words
Trapped in Paradise is a fun though important view of Cuba as seen through the eyes of a middle-aged Canadian man on a bike in the mountains with the loving support and guidance from two life-long friends. Through this memoir you will discover the most down-to-earth, generous people you could ever hope to meet. Manuel, a Cuban soul brother; his wife Adonay, beloved sister, and Pablo their darling son, God-son of the author, have taught the valuable lesson of what true brotherly, sisterly love is all about. Travel with the author, Manuel and their Canadian friend Eric. Lear about Cuba and her people in a way that you will never know unless you are trapped in paradise, on a bike, running out of water in 35oc heat wondering where you are going to spend the night. This is a truly fun read that will not make you grab your bike and head for Cuba. Every inch, every mile, every situation is unbelievably true.
About the author
Contributor Notes
Author Bio:
Richard M. Grove was born into an artist family in Hamilton, Ontario, on October 7, 1953. With both parents artists and gallery owners he had a unique and early introduction into the world of visual art. His first experience with art was with photography when at the age of thirteen he purchased, with his father’s enthusiasm and help, his first single lens reflex camera. Over the ensuing years, after leaving high school, he studied pottery at Mohawk College, design and pottery at Sheridan College, leading to his graduating in 1984 from the Experimental Arts Department at Ontario College of Art. In 1994 he graduated with honours from the Humber College, Arts Administration diploma course. In 2002 he returned to school to study computer courses relating to publishing.
Since graduating from Ontario College of Art, Richard has exhibited in more than twenty, solo and group exhibitions in Hamilton, Toronto, Boston, Calgary and Grand Prairie. He has his art in over thirty corporate collections across Canada, the most prominent of which are Esso Resources, Continental Insurance, Alberta Energy Corporation and Calgary District Hospital Group. These four companies alone represent a collection of almost thirty pieces of his work. Among the many corporate collections are six commissions of different styles and mediums ranging from pastel on paper to acrylic on canvas.
His photography and digital paintings have been on the cover of numerous books and periodicals. His book of digital paintings and poetry entitled “Sky Over Presqu’ile” was published in 2003, “Substantiality” a book of digital paintings was published in 2006 with a book of photography entitled “Oxido Rojo” released in the fall of 2006 followed by a book of Photography entitled “terra firma”.
Along with his visual art, Richard has been writing poetry seriously for decades and has had over 100 of his poems published in periodicals and has been published in over 25 anthologies from around the world. Including his poetry and photography he has 10 titles to his name. To mention only two of his poetry titles, his book entitled “Beyond Fear and Anger” was released in 1997 and his book published by Micro Prose, entitled “Poems For Jack” was released in 2002. He is also the author of numerous books with metaphysical themes including “The Mind–Body Connection”, “Metaphysical Healing For a Secular Age” and “A Spiritual Study of Body”. You can reach him at writers@hiddenbrookpress.com.
He is an editor and publisher and runs a growing publishing company Hidden Brook Press from which he publishes poetry contest anthologies and books of every genre for authors around the world. Aside from being a published poet, Richard has also exhibited his poetry in acrylic on paper paintings as well as in audio sculptures. For his poetry and prose, Richard has won a few small prizes and honourable mentions as well as a finalist spot in two contest anthologies. For his short stories he has won a top ten prize.
Richard is the founder of the Canadian Poet Registry, an archival information website that lists Canadian poets including: biographical information, their book titles and awards. One can view this website at - http://www.hidden brookpress.com/Registry.htm. He was an active member of the Canadian Poetry Association for ten years serving on the executive for seven years including five as President. He is the founding president of both the CCLA (2004) – Canada Cuba Literary Alliance - www.CanadaCuba
LiteraryAlliance.org and the CCLA Federation of Photographers (2006). The CCLA has an international membership and boasts a full-colour literary journal called The Ambassador and a literary e-newsletter called The Envoy. He is the founding president of the Brighton Arts Council and the co-founder of the Purdy Country Literary Festival.
Richard has also been a public speaker MCing poetry readings and other literary events. He has been invited by a number of literary groups as Feature Speaker on various topics in Cuba, Germany, USA, New Zealand and Canada. He was also the Feature Author as publisher/poet in the October 1998 issue of “The Treasure Chest” published out of Virginia, USA and Feature Poet in “Poetry Canada” in 2004.
Richard now lives with his wife, Kim, a writer, editor and teacher, in Presqu’ile Provincial Park situated halfway between Toronto and Kingston, south of the 401 hwy. Their location is a constant inspiration for their work.
Other books by Richard M. Grove
1 – 1997 – Beyond Fear and Anger
2 – 2001 – Poems For Jack:Poems for the Poetically Challenged
3 – 2000 – A View of Contrasts: Cuba Poems
4 – 2006 – The Mind Body Connection
5 – 2003 – Sky Over Presqu’ile
6 – 2006 – terra firma
7 – 2006 – Oxido Rojo
8 – 2006 – Substantiality
9 – 2006 – Cuba Trip
10 – 2006 – A Spiritual Study of Body
11 – 2006 – 1st Edition / 2007 – 2nd Edition / 2009 – 3rd Edition B The Family Reunion
12 – 2008 – 1st Edition / 2009 – 2nd Edition B From Cross Hill
13 – 2008 – Psycho Babble and the Consternations of Life
14 – 2008 – a trip to banes, Cuba, 2002
15 – 2011 – Trapped In Paradise: Views of My Cuba
16 – 2011 – North of Belleville – photographs by Richard M. Grove – poems by James Deahl
17 – 2013 – The Importance of Good Roots
18 – 2013 – In This We Hear The Light – Photographs by Richard M. Grove – Poems by John B. Lee
19 – 2014 – Destination Cuba
Excerpt: Trapped In Paradise: Views of My Cuba (by (author) Richard, Marvin Grove)
Preface:
Cuba is one of my favourite travel destinations. My wife Kim and I have been to Germany, France, England, the USA, a short stopover in Mexico and three glorious weeks in New Zealand but after almost 30 visits, Cuba has become my second home. After I returned to Canada in February, 2010, from a month-long visit I gathered my notes and started to write this book, Trapped in Paradise. What a wonderful memory it has become. I had almost as much fun remembering and writing about the trip as I did on the actual trip.
Being with my two friends, mis amigos, Eric and Manuel for the bicycle part of the trip was a lifetime highlight to say the least; brothers bonding in the heat of a Cuban day, Royal Palms lazily drifting by, strangers hooting or tooting to us with camaradic waves as we passed. Red-headed turkey vultures kited overhead, ash grey zebu with floppy humps, munching time, didn’t bother to lift their black-horned heads as we swished past their grazing patch. Stoic salt-white egrets sporting striking ebony feet and beaks nodded to us from their back-perched, insect-pecking vantage point. The smell of hot pavement, salt-stained drips from brow dotted our path past emerald fields of sugarcane. Precious few clouds filtered amid the brilliant sun-squinting sky as we darted from one freckle-shaded spot to another. We pushed towards the saw-toothed mountain range of La Sierra Maestra far in the distance. Mile by mile, pedal push by pedal push, we drew closer to our ocean-side destination. We really did cross those mountains. Amazing! Absolutely amazing. By bicycle there is no going around them – 250 km long by 60 km wide. The tallest peak is 1,974 metres above sea level, the highest sky-scraping heights in all of Cuba but finally we glided into the friendly embrace of Santiago de Cuba’s hustle and bustle.
Originally I was going to bike on my own but quickly, without hesitation, my dear friend, my true brother, Manuel decided to join me. How could I refuse his camaraderie and the guidance that he would bring. Then before you know it my Toronto friend Eric – I call him Ereeco, invited himself along. I embraced his interest in sharing my adventure. Even though I had known Ereeco for decades it turned out to be a wonderful bonding time. So there we were three middle-aged city slickers, non-drinkers, spiritually oriented friends heading out together each with his own unrevealed expectations, hopes and dreams to be filled. It very much reminded me of the youthful spirit of my late teens and early twenties, hitchhiking across Canada – four or five times in total.
Below is how the story unfolded. I so much hope you enjoy travelling with me through these pages.
Editorial Reviews
Reviews:
I just finished trapped in paradise. What a fun ride. Lots of good stuff I'm still chewing on. A delicious gem of a book. I laughed but I didn't cry. Although your vivid description of Cuban poverty and potholes reminded me of how the Japanese tsunami made me feel. Gut wrenching.
Gene
You can’t tell a book by its cover, an old saying goes. Such is the case here with a gorgeous pink sky and emerald palm trees that make the reader think they are entering paradise. The reader may look at the word “Trapped” and think of fear, “Paradise” might evoke joy or freedom. This book will surprise the reader on many levels. Trapped In Paradise is a wonderful book of surprises.
This beautiful piece of literary memoir, reads like a novel, is based on different trips the author took in Cuba, biking from city to city, up mountains, down into cool valleys. Grove compiled notes, photos, memoirs and anecdotes, then wove them into stories to show locals and foreigners different views of the current Cuba.
About Grove’s adventures one might draw comparisons with Christopher Columbus, Ernesto Che Guevara, or even Hemingway, but I know Richard and his two friends better than that. I would call them “The Three Musketeers. Using pens as swords, fighting time, thirst, black-outs, and the hot sun as their enemies; every mile was a won battle and every town a conquered city.
Thanks to the wonders of email, Manuel in Cuba, and Tai in Canada, everything was planned in great detail but nothing worked out. Travelling by bike from Holguin to Santiago would be a challenge for any middle-aged, novice biker, but for these three it was a miracle. Their travels, as you will read, will take them places no regular tourist would ever visit. They will meet new friends and have adventures only a Cuban national would make.
The reader will learn, laugh, think and meditate every mile with them. You will enjoy story after story mixed with a few poems about Cuba on the travels with this “un-put-down-able memoir”. There is a phrase used by the author in the middle of the book, “don't bite off more than you can chew”. With this book I only had to bite once and I was trapped into the paradise of travelling with Tai – or you know him as Richard M. Grove. I enjoyed every page, every mile.
Wency Rosales,
CCLA Ambassador
Cuban author, entertainer
What was said about some of his other books:
About – The Family Reunion
I just finished The Family Reunion. What an uplifting and warm piece of literature. I could not put it down. I simply devoured it. Thanks so much.
Gene
About – The Family Reunion
I enjoyed The Family Reunion with its cast of unforgettable characters. You have a real knack for making characters come alive, and I had to laugh at some of their quirks. I couldn't help recognizing one or two as folks who turn up at our own extended family reunions every August!
Peggy Dymond Leavey
author of Laura Secord, Mary Pickford,
and nine novels for young readers.
About – Psycho Babble and the Consternations of Life
Psycho Babble and the Consternations of Life is written in the voice of hope. Sad and frustrating moments turned my thought to the value of life.
James T. Fisher
Author, teacher
About – Psycho Babble and the Consternations of Life
Grove constructs a wonderful personality in a narrator who comes across as both interesting and pleasing to read. His dialogue is natural and never seems forced. Grove creates (or perhaps captures) an ensemble of characters who are fashioned with a skillful and sensitive hand. This is a collection about life full of stops and starts, but the overwhelming feeling of the natural procession of things is never lost. There is a tremendous emphasis placed on the passing of time. The reader is never free from the constant ticking of the clock, placing each second steadily behind us. The stories must continue… making the book a delightful and enjoyable read.
Anthony Donnelly
Author, Editor
About – Psycho Babble and the Consternations of Life
This is a thought provoking, well crafted book, that will make you stop and realize that life is worth living and we are all in a better place than what suicide can offer.
Jill Anderson,
High school teacher, reader and want-to-be writer
About – Psycho Babble and the Consternations of Life
In the preface, Grove describes his own journey through life with times of psycho babble and consternation to a place of relative peace and harmony, “All of the other stories and poems … are about the cycles of life, challenges and growth.” Most of Grove’s characters are struggling to make sense of their lives and ease the perpetual pain they live in. Grove has successfully found a way to tell of his own life experiences without preaching or whining and that’s a challenge all writers face.
Merle Amodeo
Author of, Call Waiting
About – Psycho Babble and the Consternations of Life
I found it hard to reconcile this rather dark collection of short stories, vignettes, and poems with his natural ebullience and general joie-de-vivre. This book therefore, becomes an even more telling account of the stark fears that even the most high spirited of us must overcome, not only to be successful, but to merely get through our daily grind.
Grove skirts the boundaries of personal experience and relationships that have heavily influenced the writing… I wish to thank Mr. Grove for reminding me of what a hard challenge it is to do that. Ah...but that may have been his Machiavellian motive after all!
Shane Joseph
author of Fringe Dwellers
and Redemption in Paradise
About – The Importance of Good Roots
Richard M. (Tai) Grove’s collection of short stories and poems, encapsulates both image and imagination. Some of the writing within contains analogy pointing to the parallels of the seeming differences between things and of how those lines meld and melt. The novella at the book’s end is captivating, philosophical and metaphorical.
Bruce Kauffman,
poet, editor, writer, spoken word radio host,
author of three books of poetry.
About – The Importance of Good Roots
Here is a collection of poems, short fiction and a novella. Most of the poems celebrate the beauty of nature in an adult and detailed way. Grove's poetry is accessible, beautifully crafted and memorable. The images and words stay with the reader.
The novella in this collection, ‘The Importance of Good Roots’ is well written and uses the novella form to perfection. He acknowledges the past, embraces it and used it to become a good person. The writing is tight and detailed. There is a playfulness in many of the short stories. They leave the reader feeling that the day will be good and that there is hope. This is a well-balanced collection.
Jennifer Footman,
editor, writer and teacher,
has four collections of poetry and short stories
About – The Importance of Good Roots
This is a delightful, gem of a book, a well crafted collection. Themes of life and death are never far from Grove's penetrating pen. I thoroughly recommend this rather eccentric, combined-genre-work, particularly if you like to chill-out with a good fictional read.
Reviewed by Rob Harle
Writer, Editor, Reviewer
www.robharle.com
