Book on Education and Freedom from Orcas Islander James Bach.
Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar: How Self-Education and the Pursuit of Passion can Lead to a Lifetime of Success is a new book by Orcas Islander James Bach.
The book was published on Sept. 8 by Scribner (a Simon & Schuster imprint) and the author will appear in a booksigning and presentation at Darvill’s Bookstore on Tuesday, Sept. 22nd at 7pm.
Scribner wrote upon the publication of Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar, “A Buccaneer-Scholar is anyone whose love of learning is not muzzled or shackled by any institution or authority; whose mind is driven to wander and find its own place in the world.
“The volatility of the job market and the limitless opportunities afforded by the Internet have forever changed people’s attitudes about schooling. In this new world of rapid technological development, people are becoming successful, making money and finding personal satisfaction through nontraditional means. Ideas are more important than training; innovation is more important than credentials. The ability to educate oneself – to learn how to learn – is crucial.”
James, the son of author Richard Bach, whose best-known work is probably Jonathan Livingston Seagull, wrote in his blog, www.buccaneerscholar.com, this past summer,
I wrote Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar for several reasons. The principle reason was to impress my dad. But right after that is another important one: I want to talk with people, argue with people, and work with people on the subject of self-education and how to brand ourselves and invent ourselves as thinkers.
My father is quite reclusive. I’m the opposite– though I guess if the book is very successful I will have to reconsider that. Anyway, for the moment, I’m very accessible, and I hope people will write me and tell me how they react to the ideas. I hope my follow-on to Secrets will be something about how these principles work for different people.
Several hundred folks have gotten the free download. So, read it and talk to me!
If it’s successful enough, I expect to get hit with a lot of criticism for my attacks on school. I say: bring it on.
The publisher says, “Like so many young people, James struggled in school, eventually dropping out at age sixteen. A few years later, he was leading a team at Apple Computer. Now an internationally recognized expert in the field of software testing, James has written … a groundbreaking book that shows how anyone can create their own education on their own terms. By nurturing our individual curiosities and relishing the learning process, anyone – from children struggling in school to professionals looking to jump-start their careers – can achieve success.
“In his unique, pithy and anecdotal style, and combining his personal story with proven methodologies, James describes the relentless, whimsical, low-intensity learning process he calls “buccaneering”. Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar demonstrates how the people who chart their own course, who never stop learning, will come to dominate this new world.”
