![\"\"](\"https:\/\/chronicle.hvcc.edu\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/Golfito_6x9_BookCover_Updated.jpg\")
<\/a>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.”<\/p>\n“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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
A native of Amsterdam, LaBate earned his bachelor\u2019s degree in English from Siena College and a master\u2019s 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\u00a0 and nine years at Keveny Memorial Academy in Cohoes. He then worked for 10 years as a writer for Newkirk Products in Albany.<\/p>\n
LaBate’s earlier books include “Writing Is Hard: A Collection of Over 100 Essays<\/a>” and “Things I Threw in the River: The Story of One Man’s Life<\/a>.”<\/p>\n Jim lives in Clifton Park, New York, with his wife, Barbara. They have two daughters: Maria and Katrina.<\/p>\n “Streets of Golfito” is available on Amazon
\nhttps:\/\/www.amazon.com\/s?k=Streets+of+Golfito&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss<\/a><\/p>\n