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About Vincent Collin Beach
Vincent Beach has seen a lot in the past 82 years-wars fought and peace enjoyed, bigotry endured and inclusion celebrated, loves found and loves lost, children born and children buried. Through it all, his mother's adages have helped sustain him. "Don't throw away your stick till you cross the river," she often told him. It was not till years later that he grasped the full meaning behind the saying.
Leaving behind his rural home in Jamaica, Vincent set out for a new life. He joined the British Royal Air Force in 1944 and served several years in England. Yearning to be a jazz musician, but without any background in music, he bought a pawnshop clarinet. In 1952, full of hope, he emigrated to the United States. He immediately encountered the ugliness of racism, retreated to England, but in 1955 returned to try once more to find the "American dream." He enlisted in the United States Air Force and enjoyed a 22-year career as a military bandsman. Two more careers, spanning 23 years, including 10 years as a counselor and school principal on the Navajo Reservation, and a community college instructor in political science and psychology in Chandler, Arizona, have provided Vincent with many opportunities to rely on the adages of his mother Miss Rosa. |
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He describes himself as an ordinary man from ordinary beginnings. Why then did he decide to write his autobiography? "I believe the stories of other people's lives are enlightening," he says. "Perhaps some thought or idea can be gleaned to make life's journey more satisfying."
He and his wife Anni, who helped him prepare his manuscript, received the "2003 National Excellence in Parenting Award" from the National Parents' Day Council at a ceremony in Washington, DC.
About Anni Beach
Anni, Vincent's wife and partner, served as a catalyst for bringing this book to publication. Although much of the writing was done by Vincent over the course of many years, Anni also taped and transcribed his stories, and took personal dictation which gave her the opportunity to question him in depth regarding events, emotions, and philosophy. She helped Vincent research details to ensure that the book is an accurate account of his life. And finally, with Vincent by her side, she has helped him weave the events of his life and family into this remarkable story.
Born in 1943 to Ronald and Florine DuFresne of Vancouver, Washington, she's always been known for her love of animals (her childhood pets included a Nubian goat named Heidi and an assortment of bantam chickens). Growing up in an environment of social activism fostered by her parents, she wanted to do something that would help others. Finding just the right thing was difficult, and she "tested" health education, agriculture, and social work before deciding to become a teacher. In 1969, she took a job on the Navajo Reservation where she served in the boarding school system for seventeen years. It was on the Navajo Reservation that she met Vincent.
Later, Anni was a substitute teacher in Chandler, Arizona schools for many years, a job she loved as she got to meet many wonderful people and play a lot of music on her mandolin. She continues to lead the Jam Pak Blues 'N' Grass Neighborhood Band, enjoy her family, pets, and most of all her husband Vincent whom she describes as "my hero and rock."
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© 2006 - 2012 Five Star Publications, Inc.
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