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The highly anticipated memoir of cultural icon Netica \u201cNettie\u201d Symonette have hit book stores in the Bahamas.<\/p>\n
\u201cA Girl Called Nettie: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love\u201d, is an intimate account of Ms Symonette\u2019s personal life over the past seven decades, breaking barriers and blazing trails.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor many years, a countless number of people at home and abroad have encouraged and insisted I write the book because they felt I had so much to share with others.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey feared that all of this knowledge and wisdom would be interred with me, and they felt I needed to leave it as a part of my legacy,\u201d said Ms Symonette, a former hotelier of the year.<\/p>\n
Ms Symonette is an historian, artist, cultural activist and entrepreneur. She has dedicated most of her life to telling the Bahamian story and encouraging Bahamians to value their heritage and culture.<\/p>\n
She continues to this day, hoping that Bahamians will one day \u201cwake up and realise the importance of their heritage and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cIn the memoir, I tell my story in the hopes that others will take heart when times are difficult, trust their dreams and perhaps in some small way be inspired to keep moving forward,\u201d said Ms Symonette.<\/p>\n
Of all the encounters and experiences that made their way into \u201cA Girl Called Nettie\u201d there is one story that moves Ms Symonette the most. She moved to Nassau at a young age, having grown up in Eleuthera with her 10 siblings. As a 16-year-old student at the Government High School, she was forced to leave and make a life on her own.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember the day when I received the telegram from my mother that daddy would no longer pay for me to continue my high school education. I walked out of my form room and collected my books, not saying anything to anyone, clutching my books across my chest, walking into a world unknown.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the most touching memory to me. I didn\u2019t know what I was going to do,\u201d said Ms Symonette.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething happens to me every time I reach that point in the book. That is the point I cry,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Since her childhood days, Ms Symonette has gone on to inspire a countless number of people \u2013 inside the Bahamas and across the world \u2013 with her trailblazing accomplishments in tourism and culture.<\/p>\n
Over her lifetime, she has been honoured with many awards, including the Order of Merit, Order of British Empire, the Golden Helmsman International Award, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Citizen Award, the Dollars and Sense International Award for Top Women in Business, numerous Cacique Awards, and the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association\u2019s first Hotelier of the Year Award.<\/p>\n
In 2002 she was named a living legend by the local branch of Zonta International. She is a lifetime director of the Bahamas Out Island Promotion Board and the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association.<\/p>\n
\u201cA Girl Called Nettie\u201d is currently available at Buy the Book, Chapter One Bookstore, Doongalik Studios Art Gallery and Logos Bookstore. They are also available online in e-book format. For the release of the book, Ms Symonette has planned a series of book signings.<\/p>\n
The first book signing was February 11t at Buy the Book, where Ms Symonette was joined by long time friend Paul Berry, a Washington-based television personality and journalist, who is one of the many characters featured in \u201cA Girl Called Nettie\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cNettie is an historic figure as far as I am concerned. She is a courageous woman who understands, appreciates and loves the history of her country. In an age of accelerated everything, Nettie dares to say to people, slow down and remember what it was like. She teaches not only our children but the rest of the world that the Bahamas has a history, a character, a nature, and I think it is fascinating,\u201d said Mr Berry, a nationally syndicated radio show host.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a throwback to be here after more than 20 years to see that Nettie is still being Nettie. That she has the courage to be herself in a world that is changing so fast. We should all celebrate with her \u2013 the book, the memories \u2013 and recognise she is still going. She is still preaching and she is still living what she believes. That to me is the most important thing. That is being real and Nettie is a real person,\u201d said Mr Berry.<\/p>\n
By Noelle Nicholls,
\nThe Tribune<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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