Why am I passionate about this?

My first travel memoir, Finding Myself in Borneo, has won three awards. I hold a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Communication from Florida State University. I worked internationally for 45 years, becoming an expert in the field of communication for social change. I directed and produced a number of award-winning documentary films/videos, popular multimedia initiatives, and have written numerous articles and books in my field. I worked and lived in Asia, Africa, and Russia for a total of 18 years and traveled to over 80 countries on short-term assignments. In 2015, I settled in New Mexico, using my varied experiences, memories, and imagination in creative writing.


I wrote

Finding Myself in Borneo: Sojourns in Sabah

By Neill McKee,

Book cover of Finding Myself in Borneo: Sojourns in Sabah

What is my book about?

Finding Myself in Borneo is an honest and buoyant chronicle of a young Canadian man's adventures during 1968-1970, while teaching…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Last Wild Men of Borneo: A True Story of Death and Treasure

Neill McKee Why did I love this book?

Carl Hoffman’s book is a compelling read of other Westerners in Borneo. It’s a well-written account of a Swiss environmentalist and an American entrepreneur, both of my generation, who had vastly different experiences—and so different from mine. The former “goes native” while trying to save the forest and finally disappears without a trace. The latter manages to find the cultural treasures he is looking for but is blamed for exploiting the native tribes who produced them. The author learned all this by extensive travel to the region and up the rivers and jungles these men journeyed. The phrase “Wild Men of Borneo” originated from P.T. Barnum’s exploitation of mentally disabled dwarfs from Ohio, which adds clever and ironic twist to the author’s choice of title.

By Carl Hoffman,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Last Wild Men of Borneo as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A 2019 EDGAR AWARDS NOMINEE (BEST FACT CRIME) • A BANFF MOUNTAIN BOOK AWARDS FINALIST

Two modern adventurers sought a treasure possessed by the legendary “Wild Men of Borneo.” One found riches. The other vanished forever into an endless jungle. Had he shed civilization—or lost his mind? Global headlines suspected murder. Lured by these mysteries, New York Times bestselling author Carl Hoffman journeyed to find the truth, discovering that nothing is as it seems in the world’s last Eden, where the lines between sinner and saint blur into one.

In 1984, Swiss traveler Bruno Manser joined an expedition to the…


Book cover of Ghost Train to the Eastern Star

Neill McKee Why did I love this book?

When I retired from my 45-year career as an international filmmaker and multimedia producer, I decided to concentrate on creative nonfiction writing, using my experiences and memories as a basis for the many stories I wanted to tell. I began to read and listen to travel memoirs to learn how to write in a captivating and entertaining way. Paul Theroux is one of the top writers in this genre and Ghost Train to the Eastern Star is one of his best. He doesn’t make it to Borneo, but reaches many familiar places I traveled to during my years in Southeast Asia. I love his style, full of descriptions of those old haunts, and his dialog with the people he encounters on his journey.

By Paul Theroux,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ghost Train to the Eastern Star as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Paul Theroux's Ghost Train to the Eastern Star is a journey from London to Asia by train.

Winner of the Stanford Dolman Lifetime Contribution to Travel Writing Award 2020

Thirty years ago Paul Theroux left London and travelled across Asia and back again by train. His account of the journey - The Great Railway Bazaar - was a landmark book and made his name as the foremost travel writer of his generation. Now Theroux makes the trip all over again. Through Eastern Europe, India and Asia to discover the changes that have swept the continents, and also to learn what…


Book cover of Land Below the Wind

Neill McKee Why did I love this book?

This book gives readers a clear picture of what it was like for an American woman, married to a British colonial, to live in North Borneo just before the Japanese Army invaded in 1942. It was truly an innocent place so far from the cares of the world. I read it in 1968, just before my first sojourn in Sabah, Malaysia. Much had changed by then, but it helped me understand the experiences of some of the older people I met. Today, Sabah remains a land “below the wind” (located south of the annual tropical cyclone belt.) But, as I mention in my book, it is no longer below the “political storms” as China battles the US and five other nations over the rights to the South China Sea.

By Agnes Keith,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Land Below the Wind as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book was written during an era when Sabah was known as North Borneo, and when life was very much different from today s. Reprinted many times, this classic, of Agnes Keith s observations and reflections of the time, is a true-to-life record of society and culture then and of the captivating natural beauty of Sabah. Today, Sabah continues to be known as the land below the wind , a phrase used by seafarers in the past to describe all the lands south of the typhoon belt, but which Agnes effectively reserved for Sabah through her book. One of few…


Book cover of The White Rajahs of Sarawak

Neill McKee Why did I love this book?

Sarawak is the neighboring East Malaysian state of Sabah. It would be difficult to understand how northern Borneo evolved without understanding its colonial history. James Brooke, a British man born in India, became the Rajah of Sarawak when he helped the Sultan of Brunei put down pirates that threatened his kingdom. The Brooke dynasty brought many reforms and established an orderly form of colonial government. It lasted for a hundred years through succeeding generations until the territory was handed over to the UK after the Japanese were defeated in World War II. But it is interesting that piracy was never totally controlled in the waters around northern Borneo. It remains a problem to this day. Fortunately, I was never captured!

By Robert Payne,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The White Rajahs of Sarawak as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The story of the Brooke dynasty, James, Charles, and Vyner, Rajahs of Sarawak for over a hundred years.


Book cover of A Brief History of Bali: Piracy, Slavery, Opium and Guns: The Story of an Island Paradise

Neill McKee Why did I love this book?

Bali is known as a peaceful Hindu "paradise” in Asia. But today most tourists are ignorant of its tumultuous history. In my book I travel by sea on a freighter from Singapore to Jakarta, and journey through Java to Bali. Before reading Hanna’s book, I too was largely ignorant of the invasions Bali had experienced before tourists came: centuries of domination by Muslim sultanates; then early 1800s, the Dutch alongside the French; then the British, followed by the Dutch again in 1816. Next, Bali’s people joined the fight for independence before Japan invaded in 1942. The Dutch returned in 1945, so back to the struggle for independence 1945-1949. Within Indonesia, Bali had to fight hard to maintain its Hindu religion and culture. A peaceful paradise?

By Willard A. Hanna,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Brief History of Bali as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book tells the story of Bali--the "paradise island of the Pacific"--its rulers and its people, and their encounters with the Western world.

Bali is a perennially popular tourist destination. It is also home to a fascinating people with a long and dramatic history of interactions with foreigners, particularly after the arrival of the first Dutch fleet in 1597. In this first comprehensive history of Bali, author Willard Hanna chronicles Bali through the centuries as well as the islanders' current struggle to preserve their unique identity amidst the financially necessary incursions of tourism.

Illustrated with more than forty stunning photographs,…


Explore my book 😀

Finding Myself in Borneo: Sojourns in Sabah

By Neill McKee,

Book cover of Finding Myself in Borneo: Sojourns in Sabah

What is my book about?

Finding Myself in Borneo is an honest and buoyant chronicle of a young Canadian man's adventures during 1968-1970, while teaching secondary school as a CUSO volunteer in Sabah, Malaysia (North Borneo). Travel with Neill McKee on his unique journey through vibrant Asian cultures as he learns the craft of teaching, the Malay language, and local customs, and gains many friends in his small community. He climbs the highest peak in Southeast Asia, has a love affair, and makes his first of many documentary films.

He and his American Peace Corps buddy also discover that North Borneo is, indeed, J. R. R. Tolkien's famed Middle-Earth of The Lord of the Rings! The enterprising duo establishes the North Borneo Frodo Society, an organization Tolkien joins. During McKee's second Sabah sojourn, 1973-74, and other return trips, he tells readers what happened to the land and people who touched his life, and he theirs.

Book cover of The Last Wild Men of Borneo: A True Story of Death and Treasure
Book cover of Ghost Train to the Eastern Star
Book cover of Land Below the Wind

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By MaryAnn Shank,

Book cover of Sor Juana, My Beloved

MaryAnn Shank Author Of Sor Juana, My Beloved

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I once saw a play at the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Theatre. A play about Sor Juana. It was a good play, but it felt like something was missing like jalapenos left out of enchiladas. The play kept nudging me to look further to find Sor Juana, and so for the next five years, I did so. I read and read more. I listened for her voice, and that is where I heard her life come alive. This isn’t the only possibility for Sor Juana’s life; it is just the one I heard.

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What is my book about?

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Sor Juana's work is studied still today, and justifiably so. Scholars study her months on end; mystics…

Sor Juana, My Beloved

By MaryAnn Shank,

What is this book about?

This astonishingly brilliant 17th century poet and dramatist, this nun, flew through Mexico City on wings of inspiration. Having no dowry, she chose the life of a nun so that she might learn, so that she might write, so that she might meet the most fascinating people of the western world. She accomplished all of that, and more.

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