Journey to Yacco: A Memoir of Discovery, Yacco Series Book 1

Yacco is a word from the vocabulary of a Patamona tribe of South American Amerindians, and loosely interpreted, means cousin, member of the family… a term of genuine acceptance, connection, belonging.

David Saunders was a Preacher’s Kid, during WWII. When Saunders was eleven, his family moved to a British Colony in the Caribbean and then to British Guiana in South America. Journey to Yacco is the story of Saunders’ early life and his family’s journey that takes him from the red clay soil of North Carolina to the coral reefs of the West Indies.

He recounts with pathos and humor the adventures and misadventures of a Southern boy growing up in the 1940s and ‘50s and his journey to unconditional belonging. Saunders is hard at work on the sequel about his teenage years living on an island of coconut palms and hurricanes, and in a country of snakes and dugout canoes. Saunders’ story will resonate with readers of all ages.

This book lays the groundwork for Book 2: tales of Saunders’ experiences in the West Indies and in a village deep in the interior of the South American country of British Guiana.