HAIKU

About the Book

My journey into haiku territory began in 1998, after reading Richard Wright‛s book titled HAIKU: This Other World, published forty years after his death. Since that time I have been on a haiku high. That initial taste of haiku produced fi ve haiku books: Like a Flower Blooming (1999), This Little Island Mine (2000), No Words Has the Rose (2003), Haiku: This Other Joy (2005), If the Gobi Tree Could Talk: “A Calabash of Poems” (2007) and now, Haiku: “A Leaf in the Wind.” While most of the poems in this publication were written on St. Croix, others were inspired on visits to New York, Australia, Gibraltar, Greece and Turkey.

About the Author

Richard A. Schrader was born in Estate Calquohoun, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, where he resides with his wife Claudette. After enlisting in the U.S. Army, he served in Puerto Rico, the U.S. mainland, and Germany. Mr. Schrader received his undergraduate degree from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and his Master of Arts in Education from the College of the Virgin Islands. Retiring after many years as a prison warden, this soldier-turned-writer first took up his pen in 1984 and has not put it down since then. In addition to writing twenty three books, he has contributed to many scholarly publications and is a sought- after participant in local cultural events. Mr. Schrader is well known among Virgin Islanders and his friends far and near, not only for his many years of community service, but also for his newer role of poet, author, historian, lecturer, and preserver of oral and recorded histories. His work among the young people of the islands is particularly appreciated, enabling them to recognize their rich cultural heritage. Mr. Schrader is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Virgin Islands Humanities Council 1994 “Humanist of the Year” award, in recognition of his tireless efforts in preserving the traditions of St. Croix.