Jim LaBate, recently retired following a 30-year career at Hudson Valley Community College that included two decades in the Writing Center, has published another book, “Streets of Golfito.”
“Streets of Golfito” focuses on two individuals who meet in Golfito, Costa Rica in 1974. Jim (Diego) is a 22-year-old Peace Corps volunteer from upstate New York, and he has been assigned to introduce sports other than soccer to the young people. By contrast, Lilli is a shy, beautiful, 17-year-old Costa Rican girl who wants to learn English and escape her small town, a banana port on the Pacific side near the Panamanian border.
In alternating chapters, the first third of the book shows these two characters growing up in their respective countries. Then, after they meet, Lilli experiences a tragedy that will drastically change her life, and Jim does all he can to help her survive and thrive in her new circumstances.
A native of Amsterdam, LaBate earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Siena College and a master’s degree, also in English, from The College of Saint Rose. He spent his entire career as either a teacher or a writer. He taught physical education as a Peace Corps volunteer in Golfito, Costa Rica, for two years. He taught high-school English for 10 years, one year at Vincentian Institute and nine years at Keveny Memorial Academy in Cohoes. He then worked for 10 years as a writer for Newkirk Products in Albany.
LaBate’s earlier books include “Writing Is Hard: A Collection of Over 100 Essays” and “Things I Threw in the River: The Story of One Man’s Life.”
Jim lives in Clifton Park, New York, with his wife, Barbara. They have two daughters: Maria and Katrina.
“Streets of Golfito” is available on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Streets+of+Golfito&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss
Read an excerpt on Medium
https://jimlabate.medium.com/streets-of-golfito-an-excerpt-from-the-novel-228a075c015a
Published: Tue, 27 Oct 2020 11:50:11 +0000 by d.gardner