Finding Myself in Borneo: Sojourns in Sabah - Paperback

Winner of the New Mexico-Arizona Book Award for Autobiography (non-regional); Winner of the Readers Favorite Award in the Travel Book Category; and Bronze Medal Winner Independent Press Awards for Best Regional Non-Fiction. In 1968 a young Canadian man said yes to the world. As a CUSO volunteer teacher in Sabah, Malaysia -- North Borneo -- Neill McKee spent two extraordinary years learning the craft of teaching, the Malay language, and the customs of a vibrant community far from home. He climbed Mount Kinabalu, the highest peak in Southeast Asia. He navigated Borneo's backwaters to make his first documentary film. He fell in love. He traveled by freighter to Indonesia, where he witnessed the haunting scars of a recent genocide -- a sobering contrast to the hilarious motorcycle journeys he shared with his American Peace Corps buddy in Sabah. And then came the discovery that will stop readers in their tracks: North Borneo is, beyond all reasonable doubt, J.R.R. Tolkien's famed Middle Earth of The Lord of the Rings. The two friends established the North Borneo Frodo Society -- an organization Tolkien himself joined. It is a buoyant, honest, and unforgettable travel memoir for readers of CUSO and Peace Corps and other volunteer stories, 1960s Southeast Asia adventures, Tolkien connections, documentary filmmaking memoirs, and North American coming-of-age nonfiction. It's the second book in Neill McKee's trilogy -- following Kid on the Go! and leading into My University of the World. These works can be read in any order or as standalones.