Only a Dot on the Map: St. John Remembered

By Charlotte Fish Lacey

Charlotte Fish Lacey did something remarkable after spending two vacations on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands: She asked for an unpaid leave of absence from her elementary school in Massachusetts so she could teach in the Virgin Islands for a year.
She sent her resume to the Virgin Islands Department of Education on St. Thomas and was thrilled to accept a position as a permanent substitute. Very few people had telephones on the island, and she had to report to work every day as teachers could not call in sick. She later taught second and third grades.
At the end of the school year, she received a call from the superintendent of schools in Massachusetts, asking if she was planning to return for the new school year. She asked if her leave could be extended. We have about fifty applicants for your job, he told her.
She wasnt ready to come back and ended up staying on the island for twenty-five more years. This is the story of some of her adventures in Only a Dot on the Map.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: May 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781496911391

Charlotte Fish Lacey

Charlotte Fish Lacey was born and raised in Massachusetts. She graduated from Northfield School for Girls, attended Mount Holyoke College, graduated from Goddard College and received a Masters of Education from Tufts University. She taught for six years before moving to St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where she spent twenty-five years. She lives in Massachusetts now with her husband and has four children, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

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© 2014 Charlotte Fish Lacey. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 05/23/2015

ISBN: 978-1-4969-1140-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-1139-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014908494

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Contents

How I Came to Live on St John

First Days

Post Office

The Vegetable Day

Friday Night Fish Fries

Wicks

The Rat

Building My Own Beach House

Fred’s Bar and Rest.

Ram Goat Snare

Ms. Cleo

Caribbean Chorale and Beyond

April Rain

Pigs

Hurricane Hugo

Air Travel to the Virgin Islands

Dedicated to my husband Dr. Hamer Lacey

And children Natasha, Lisa, Nancy and Karl

Acknowledgements

Many thanks for help along the way to: Dr. Gilbert Sprauve, Karl Fish, Andrea Cocito, Natasha Balsom, Lisa Conley, Nancy Liburd, Ms. Madeline Sewer, Ms. Maddalena DeMaria, Ms. Gladys Hewitt, Dr. Hamer Lacey and all my friends and ‘family’ on St John.

How I Came to Live on St John

How%20I%20Came%20to%20Live%20on%20St%20John.jpg

My mother explained my strange behavior as ‘change of life’. Whatever the underlying reason, it was a real