Author, scholar and human rights activist by day. Poet, book collector and lover of live music, after working hours. Family man, mentor and friend around the clock.
I grew up on Bushrod Island, between Duala and Tweh Rubber Farm.
Our home stood in the shade of an awe-inspiring silk-cotton tree, inhabited by bats and, according to neighborhood lore, a colony of ghosts.
I grew up in a yard filled with a variety of fruits, including mango, guava, soursop, breadfruit, pawpaw and banana. My parents operated a coffee roasting business, so our yard was constantly filled with the distinctive aroma of Liberica coffee.
Categories
Under the Cotton Tree
![](https://patricksplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/CottonTree2-e1660014951613.jpg)