An Unexpected Life

Born in London just in time to experience the German blitzkrieg but too late to fight in the war, David started asking questions almost immediately, and has never stopped. Determined to make sense of an apparently crazy world, he decided to become a serious writer. But an incomplete education and whimsical sense of humor kept getting in the way. This memoir chronicles his childhood in post-war London, delayed education, complete failure as a soldier, three marriages, many cats, and a lifetime fascination with the human comedy. His search for answers to the Big Questions led him on an irregular but lively journey around the fringes of religion, journalism, education, and philosophy. Arriving in America by accident in middle age, he discovered both his subject and his métier. There was nothing to do but accept his destined role as an essayist for Public Radio. His thoughtful and amused reflections on writing, travel, literature, and the Meaning of Life, have found a wide audience on radio and in print. DAVID BOUCHIER is the awardwinning essayist for the WSHU Public Radio Group in New York and Connecticut, and for many years hosted a lively and entertaining classical music program called Sunday Matinée on the same stations. His commentaries and opinion columns have appeared in dozens of newspapers, and for ten years he contributed a regular humor column to the regional edition of the Sunday New York Times. Born in London, David has worked as a tour guide, bookseller, journalist, broadcaster, lecturer, freelance writer and college teacher on both sides of the Atlantic. His most recent books are Not Quite a Stranger, stories of life in France, and a collection of essays from public radio called Out of Thin Air. He lives with his wife in Stony Brook, Long Island, and in a small village in Languedoc region of France.