Two years ago, Guyanese author and backpacker, Ric Couchman set out on a journey to fulfill a childhood dream of experiencing firsthand the beauty of his country, a beauty rhapsodized, over the years, in songs and images.
Couchman’s new book, ‘Following the Blue Morpho’, gives an account of that adventure.
The journey commenced on September 16, 2016, as 59 – year-old Couchman, an experienced hiker, left his brother’s Queenstown, Georgetown residence and ventured up the East Bank Highway where he trekked for days until he reached the vast savannahs of the Rupununi.
Far from finishing on a note of euphoria, Couchman returned from his journey disillusioned, causing him to retreat into obscurity for about a year. And it was only at the prompting of a close friend that he eventually marshalled the courage to write the book.
What happened on that journey? What drove him into self-imposed obscurity? It is all revealed in Following the Blue Morpho. According to the author, “One cannot undertake such an adventure and return the same.”
The value in this narrative is its encouragement to us to dare to follow our dream or vision no matter where it takes us. It also provides the reader with an up-close-and-personal look at the homeland that, according to the author, “we think we know, but, in fact, barely know.”
Following the Blue Morpho delivers on this unique perspective because, as Ric says, “I did not simply fly over or drive around the country and its many villages. I walked through those villages, traversing the length and breadth of the country by foot.”
Ric Couchman attended Covent Garden Secondary School then went on to complete a degree in Theology at the Jamaica Theological Seminary. He also did graduate work at the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. His other books include Musings from Outside the Universal, A Famine of Tears, Blueprint for a Nihilism, The Conflagration of Ouranos, and 3:00 A.M.
Following the Blue Morpho is published by WAN WAN DUTTY Books and will be released and globally distributed on October 25, 2018. WAN WAN DUTTY books are available through Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com, and wherever quality books are sold. For more information, visit the author’s website athttp://www.riccouchman.com, or contact him at riccouchman@gmail.com
