After teaching, traveling and living on four continents, RJ Furth decided it was time to jump into something he’d been longing to do for many years: write. He started a novel twenty years earlier on the Thai island of Ko Samui, and finally had a chance to complete it in Colorado where he devoted himself to writing full-time. He has eaten dog in Sumatra, been threatened by a madman in Thailand, pulled leaches off his legs in India, and been frightened by daunting heights in Peru. It is his intention to write about some of these adventures while at the same time pursuing new ones. He is currently working on his fifth novel. Many of his travel stories – fiction and nonfiction – as well as stories written by fellow world travelers can be found at rjfurth.com.

Smith vs Smith is a daily semi-authobiographical comic strip. It focues on Matt Smith '03, his family and friends. The strip deals with issues of growing up....work....love.. heartbreak....Matt is also the film editor of the ISKL's promotional which is posted on various pages of the website.

http://www.smithvssmith.com/site/site


1985

 

Neil Grant was born in Glasgow, Scotland in The Year of the Fire Horse, but was prevented from sounding like Billy Connolly for the rest of his life when he came to Australia at age thirteen. His earliest influence was Dr. Seuss whose poetic vision and imaginative wherewithal has remained with him to this day.  

He has backpacked, bussed and blundered through India, Yugoslavia, the United Kingdom, Israel, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and paid for these expeditions with a series of unlikely occupations. At various times of his life he has been an instrument steriliser, a cook, a brickie’s labourer, a roof-tile reclaimer, a carrot picker, a tree planter, but he has always been a writer.

His poetic works have been published in Kingfisher Collection 2001 and Overland Express (online). He has won first place in the Southern Cross Literary Competition and was highly commended in the Karrinyup Writers’ Club Poetry Competition. In 2000, Neil was awarded a Victorian Writers’ Centre Mentorship for his young adult surf novel Rhino Chasers.

The Australia Council for the Arts awarded him a grant in 2005 to write a novel about the refugee situation in Australia. The story is set in suburban Melbourne and is centred around two young guys one of whom is an Afghan asylum seeker. He is currently working on this manuscript.
Neil is committed to producing quality writing for young people and believes this to be the most rewarding and challenging of all writing occupations. He is particularly interested in getting reluctant readers turning pages and hopes that through his writing and speaking he can lure some of them away from their Playstations. © neil grant | created

Rhino Chasers — the story of three young guys on surfari across the broad foot of Australia — was published in 2002 by Allen & Unwin and is being developed as a feature film.

'Grant's vivid description of surfing action is awesome; likewise his ability to describe changing landscapes in a few strokes… The best surfing novel since Kem Nunn’s Dogs of Winter' Mike Shuttleworth, Australian Bookseller and Publisher

"I thought this was a great book and especially liked the way the characters related to each other, in terms of the language they use — the imagery was fantastic and I would urge everyone, 16 years and older to race out and buy a copy.' Riannon Leonarder, Year 11 (Illawarra Mercury)

Neil's second novel — Indo Dreaming — charts the progress of Rhino Chasers' Goog as he travels through Indonesia in search of his dead friend. From the author of Rhino Chasers, Indo Dreaming is a vivid and enigmatic novel for anyone who has the spirit of travel wedged in their soul.

'Grant's ability to take the reader into the wild and foreign Indonesia is a delight.' Ben Beaton, Australian Bookseller and Publisher

'Indo Dreaming is a great book to read when you have sand between your toes or even salt water on the brain.' Kirrily, aged 15, Canberra, ACT

Anita Lau '84

Anita Lau-McElvane was born in Hong Kong and by the age of 21 had lived in many countries including Malaysia, Australia, the United States and Hong Kong. She holds a degree in journalism from the University of Oregon and in Humanites from Griffith University in Brisbane. While in Brisbane Anita began experimenting with cooking for friends and parties, moving onto organising and catering events from cocktail parties to large buffet occasions. Returning to Hong Kong in 1990 to pursue her journalistic career, Anita became the food writer and critic for the renowned gastronomy guide The Taler's Best Restaurants. Throughout the 90's her restaurant and food columns appeared in TV Times and Asian Home Gourmet Magazine and she wrote a travel guide on Chinese food. In 1997 Anita sat as one of the judges for the Hong Kong Culinary Awards. Now living in San Francisco, she enjoys writing about poetry and about food.

 


Current ISKL parent, Jane Strecker, is author of Family to Fabulous, a "how to" book on turning a family meal into a Fabulous entertainment dish!

Jin Mullen '05, also a senior at University of Victoria, submitted a review of a recent lacrosse game to the Martlet, the university's independent newspaper.

http://www.martlet.ca/article/5510-uvic-men-s-lacrosse-club-holds

Andrew Smith '05, currently studying at University of Victoria, has taken an interest in journalism and is a writer for the official site of RugbyCanada. Click below to see his feature article:


http://www.rugbycanada.ca/index.php?
lang=en&page_id=10&news_id=4313

 

Clair Piech '02, a graduate of University of Victoria, is pursuing a journalism career in Whistler, Canada. Working for Pique Magazine, a weekly newspaper and magazine, she covers the local political scene. Click on the link below to see one of her earlier pieces describing the new private university:

QuestCollege. http://www.questu.ca/media/news_archive.php?id=42

John Wilson '84 walks you through the ten year journey that his family undertook to build a natural home. Natural Living documents what real people are doing to stop the destruction of the natural world. There are so many things that can be done today.

Learn from the experts about new and old ways to make our homes healthier using natural materials like straw bales. Find out how home design can minimize the need to use fossil fuels for heating and cooling. Capture renewable energy from the sun and wind. Transform the power of sunlight and the wind into electricity. Convert renewable energy into electricity that can even run your electricity meter backwards. Reduce your need for heating energy by using smart windows and passive solar design. Reduce your energy needs by choosing efficient appliances and lighting. Eliminate the need for an air conditioner by incorporating the ancient secrets of Sahara architecture. These are real solutions, presented by real people just like you.

Going To Nias: An Indonesian Adventure
Pat and Bob were completely prepared for their vacation. They had lived in Indonesia long enough to be ready for anything. Nothing could possibly go wrong. But what happens when the system breaks down? What if, to reach the destination of your dreams, you must travel on unexpected roads, sometimes frightening, sometimes heartrending, sometimes funny, and always challenging? What if, when you get there, your dream isn't what you expected? What if what you expected was somewhere else? And, more important, how do you get home?
"Going to Nias" is a true adventure.
'Excellent Travel writing at its vivid best " -Sir Oliver Baudert, (Order of the British Empire in 1976 for services in Indonesia)
Rights Of The Heart: A Wisconsin North Woods Heritage, Pat Maximoff, 059538627X

Rights Of The Heart: A Wisconsin North Woods Heritage

A Gift for everyone who has ever loved a summer home The hilarious and heartbreaking story of an aging summer cottage, built to be "a refuge from grief with room for joy." Faced with the intrusion of an air conditioner, the builder's grand-daughter reflects on how the cottage has battled change as it fulfills its purpose-cosseting lovers, defying gangsters, sheltering wounded animals and children, and facing unique problems such as a porcupine in the basement, badgers under the support posts and a refrigerator in the bedroom. We watch the cottage adjust to history, fight for survival and always remain itself-a small house, nestled into the gentle magnificence of the Wisconsin North Woods
Pat Maximoff, alumni teacher and parent, shared that she had written two book as shown above. She and her husband, Bob, were one of the founders of ISKL during the mid 60's and their two sons, Tim and Chris, also attended the school. Pat and Bob attended the 2009 San Fransisco alumni gathering where they saw Robert (Head of School 1790-1978) and Jane Gaw fior the first time in many years.
Jennifer Reischel '98:
Jennifer Reischel graduated from the three-year musical theatre course at Mountview Academy in 2002. Her professional performance experience includes the UK tour of an evening with Gary Lineker, the Cole Porter musical Nymph Errant (Sadlers Wells), various musicals as part of the Cardiff International Musical Theatre festival, cabaret and jazz solo singing engagements at Lauderdale House, Pizza on the Park and in Singapore, as well as filming a television pilot at Pinewood Studios.

Pieter Kat '71
Illustrated with two hundred color photographs, this striking volume reveals the worlds of four neighboring prides that roam the diverse habitats of Botswana's Okavango Delta. Drawing on continuing field research begun in 1995, Pieter Kat shows how Okavango lions challenge long-held assumptions about sociability, mating strategies, and hunting techniques. Pride males readily mate with females from other prides; females often leave their offspring vulnerable to predators; and lions are more prone to hunting mistakes and scavenging than has been commonly believed.

Jennifer Daulton (Munnerlyn) ’90 authored the book, The Adventure Begins which “celebrates the unique nature and uncommon struggles faced by Third-culture Kids” as described by Trafford Publishing. Jennifer is married to ISKL alumnus, Tim Munnerlyn '90. The Munnerlyns teach at Shanghai American School.

Jennifer Taylor '87 has been using music and art to interpret the world around her since she was knee-high to a grasshopper. She currently resides in the Pacific Northwest in a converted chicken coop that once housed the hens she fed and drew as a child. Her focus is on bringing an author's work to life with colorful images that draw the reader in. She works primarily in watercolor, gouache and ink.

Authored by mother of Chiara Tamagnini '87."Great autobiography for anybody who's interested in Africa and how I grew up."

Eric Chudler '76 (son of Head of School, Al Chudler, 1968-1970) is a neuroscientist and Director of Education and Outreach at University of Washington Engineered Biomaterials in Seattle, Washington. He has been a "basic researcher" performing experiments related to how the nervous system works and includes work about how Parkinson's disease affects the brain.
Former Heads of School, Bill Powell (2000-2006) and Gail Schoppert (1978-1983) colloborated on this book used for school board training.

William Powell and Ochan Kusuma-Powell have served as international school educators in the United States, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Indonesia, and most recently in Malaysia, where Bill was Head of School and Ochan taught Grade 8 Humanities. They have co-authored Count Me In! Developing Inclusive International Schools (2000) and Making the Difference: Differentiation in International Schools (2007) and frequently contribute educational articles for publication. Bill and Ochan are currently working on a project to support differentiated instruction in international schools, supported by a grant from the US Department of State. They are focusing their attention on teacher professional development, parent advocacy, school leadership and governance training and serve as consultants for Education Across Frontiers (powell@eduxfrontiers.org).
For those of you in the ISKL community who have not read the ad about my cook book in the past, let me run it by you again........

A couple of years back I had written a Cook Book, as a gift to my daughter on her 18th birthday. She was away at university, and kept calling and e-mailing for recipes (she had refused to learn cooking before she left home) so I called the cook book “Mom, How do I make?” Friends heard about the book and wanted copies too, so decided to print some, and sell them. I have since printed them twice over and ran out of copies, both times. So I had yet some more copies printed.

The cook book is very simple to use, it has recipes for various types of cooking. There are recipes for Continental, Mexican, Asian, and Indian food. Recipes are for soups, salads, rice, chicken, beef, pork, seafood, veggies, desserts and sauces.
Marie Antao alumni parent