“Being my mother’s son, I took a handful of colorful shells from the beach, selected the best, and put them in my pocket to remember that day in that most idyllic of places.”

Stories & Reflections from the Bay Islands

M J Harper’s first publication, A Handful of Seashells is a collection of narratives gathered from the author’s life experiences, mostly in the Bay Islands of Honduras where he has lived for the past 35 years.

From Roatan to the Moskito Coast, and the Western Caribbean to Southern Africa, the stories in this collection describe adventurous living on the edge while trying to maintain respectability and sanity in the far flung reaches of the globe.

These stories provide more than a glimpse into a strange world and its eccentric characters—a world that leaves us pondering our own humanity.

Also available for in-store purchase from Waves of Art, Roatan.

Village store Helene late 80’s (slim pickings!)

Typical bush house made of wildcane & palmetto leaf ‘thatching’ in The Bight, Helene

The unforgettable German Man (Adolf Ulrich) with his wife Wida Alvanzer chipping her copra to make oil at their house in Bentley Bay, late 80’s

The Gladiator (fishing vessel) at anchor, St. Helene 1986

Some of the freedivers aboard the Gladiator 1986

Quiet Hill

Pigeon Cay

My friend and exdiving partner Eddie Pandy

Merlees

Helene

Helene late 80’s

Dragon

Dory

With Desi

Desi

Freediver Dave Bowman in his dory with his 2 sons, 1986

Cays

Catch! Late 80’s

Black Bat

Bentley Bay, Helene Village Yard 1986

Bentley Bay, Helene 1986

Bentley Bay, 1986

M J Harper

Matthew Harper has lived in the Bay Islands of Honduras for most of his adult life, having grown up in South Africa and finishing his education in England.

A former student of English Literature and a voracious reader, partial to the works of Joseph Conrad, Ernest Hemingway, James Hamilton Patterson, James Joyce, and Guy de Maupassant, Matthew has always enjoyed writing and contributed several articles to the Bay Islands Voice magazine, but never published until his first book, A Handful of Seashells (February 2022).

He is currently working on his second book, an account of British history in the Bay Islands and the Moskitia.

More about M J Harper

An Electrical Engineer by profession, Matthew has been involved in the development of Roatan’s power infrastructure since the early 1990’s, and most recently was extremely proud to be a part of the engineering and operations team that built the subsea line providing power to the small island of St. Helene, where he first lived and was married upon arriving to the islands

Matthew also takes tremendous pride in the fact that he can do almost anything that the native islanders can do, having been taught by them when he first arrived and was initiated in the 1980’s

He is fluent in Spanish and hopes to soon see some of his stories printed in the language

Instrumental to introducing the game of rugby in Honduras, he coached his Roatan team, ‘Pirates RFC’, as well as the national team in their first international matches

Matthew was appointed as Her Majesty’s Honorary Consul to the Bay Islands in 2007, and served in this capacity until he stepped down in 2020

He lives on Roatan and can still be found in his spare time at his property on St. Helene and navigating the seas of the east end of the island while making sure the power stays on!