Ode To Author Richard Bode

Richard Bode grew up in Bay Shore, Long Island during the 1940s, where he was an avid sailor of his 23 ft Timber Point Sloop Circe in the waters of The Great South Bay. He is the author of the best-selling book First You Have to Row a Little Boat – Reflections on Life and Living, in which he presents life lessons through sailoring metaphors informed by his childhood sailing adventures. Bode also wrote Blue Sloop At Dawn, an autobiographical novel that spans his life from early childhood through his early twenties, with emphasis on his teen years in Bay Shore; and at age sixty-eight he wrote Beachcombing At Miramar, in which he reflects on his life through a long lens. I absolutely loved all three books. Bode is both a wise sage and a highly skilled, atmospheric story teller. The combination is endearing.

When I attempted to research Bode's life online, I was surprised that there was no biography to be found. This seemed to me a disservice. And so, as a fellow Long Islander, and in the spirit of "If not me, then who?" I hereby submit my Ode to Author Richard Bode, which includes both a biography and extensive excerpts from his writings.