I’ve been reading the twenty-three books recommended by Road Scholar for our World Academy trip coming in January rather than writing. Pitcairn Island, one of our stops, is two square miles of volcano whose claim to fame is that it is the island where Fletcher Christian, his fellow mutineers, and their Tahitian wives settled after the mutiny on the Bounty. While it isn’t one of the twenty-three books, I also read Mutiny on the Bounty. Did you know it is the first of a trilogy about the mutiny? I hope to read the other two, Men Against the Sea, and Pitcairn’s Island.

Pitcairn’s remote location in the southeast Pacific was one of the necessary features of an island that would serve Christian’s purposes.  He needed an island that would not have English ships visiting, but such isolation comes with a price. According to Simon Winchester in his book, Pacific, there are few descendants of the original settlers remaining on the island which is expected to become uninhabited by 2030.

The island’s only industry is bee-keeping and very minimal tourism. As one of few visitors next year, I plan to buy honey and postcards to contribute to the local economy. I’ll have to see it before I know whether I will hike up the volcanic mountain that comes right up to the port of entry.  According to Winchester, it is a monstrous hill.