Saturday, June 25, 1pm – Non-Fiction
James R. Boyd author of Follow the Trend: the Story of a Life and
Observations from Living It
James R. Boyd was born soon after the country began its descent into the
Great Depression. His life was hugely impacted both by the state of affairs
in the country as a whole and by the political and social issues inherent in
growing up in the south at that time. His childhood was spent in a small
town in what he describes as a large, close-knit family. After his father
died suddenly at the age of forty-nine, he knew he was simply going to have to carve a future out of the moral support of a loving family and his own wish to succeed. After completing high school and a year of college, Mr. Boyd joined the Air Force just as he was about to be drafted by the Army. When he turned down an offer to train as a pilot, he was trained as a medic and led an interesting and helpful life while serving in Japan. Following military service, Mr. Boyd completed college with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Florida A & M University, and later attained a Master of Education degree in Urban Education from Antioch University. He taught general science and mathematics in Philadelphia. In addition to his regular classroom responsibilities, for five years he held various administrative positions including Coordinator, Assistant Director, and Director of Leadership Training for the City of Philadelphia. He coordinated an exchange program with a private school in the city. For ten years, he was director of an alternative school whose target population was students with behavioral issues.
Mr. Boyd co-authored with his wife: Help Me Decide: Learning to Make Good Choices. This book is currently being used around the country and
internationally to help teach students how to examine and manage their own behavior.
