99-year-old man from St Kitts and Nevis writes his first book

As we grow old, we leave our dreams behind and start focusing on the future. Time passes, and people tend to set aside their hobbies and move ahead with daily lives. But, a 99-year-old man originally from St Kitts and Nevis kept his spirits high and wrote his first book titled 'Only God Can Make a Tree.

The 99-year-old Bertram Anderson Roach was born in Nevis on October 13th 1922. His childhood was spent between Nevis with his Mother and St Kitts with his father, where he attended the Tabernacle Junior School. His father, Adolphus Roach, was originally from the Island of Montserrat and of Irish descent.

Mr Roach completed his education in Nevis before he began his adventures of travelling throughout the Caribbean and later settled in Trinidad, where he lived for about six years. He fell in love with Carnival and was an active participant in all things Carnival.

He brought back the knowledge he had acquired in Trinidad and Tobago and implemented them to create his own Carnival and Culturama troops. At the age of 92, he was still performing in costume at the island's summer festival of Culturama.

Mr Roach settled and married eventually with the love of his life and later migrated to the UK as part of the Windrush Generation. He and his wife Sylvia settled in a small town in Cheshire with their six children. He marvelled his children with tales of his adventures, and they encouraged him to write a book to record his experiences.

Bertram returned to his beloved homeland of Nevis in the mid-90s, where he remains today. His first book was published when he was 83 years old, and his second is written and waiting for publication. He will be 99 in October.