A senior who spent the past three years chronicling his memoir has advised people to “make a note” of life’s events, even as they happen.

The Reverend Frederick Hassell, who committed himself to a life of service, said that during his detailed research journey for his book, Flog Your Memory: Write It Down, he made a few “interesting” discoveries.

They included the insight that his mother may have been born on the island of Montserrat and not Antigua, as he had always thought.

Mr Hassell’s memoir, which captures aspects of the island’s culture through a series of essays tied to his experiences, was released last week at an event at the Bermuda National Library.

Creation of the book was sponsored through a stewardship and production grant that was awarded to the writer by the Bermuda Arts Council.

Mr Hassell, who spent 42 years helping older people as director of the Bermuda Senior Islanders Centre, said the writing journey started in 2022 when his youngest son helped him to subscribe to the writing app Storyworth.

“The idea was to get me to write and eventually I would have a keepsake book,” he said.

He said Storyworthdoes not publish someone’s written work but he noted that “they try to get people to write, especially elderly persons through weekly questions”.

Mr Hassell said that for 52 weeks he received questions from the company, such as what is his favourite meal, where he walked to school and his favourite poet, among others.

He explained: “In answering those and other questions, I ended up with a manuscript of over 290 pages based on my experiences.

“In my case, because of my community background and also as a retired minister of the church, I wrote about my favourite hobbies and so forth. But I also wrote about thanatology, that’s about death and dealing with older persons.”

Mr Hassell said he also wrote about investment clubs, about buying shares in investment companies, on philosophy and about special projects.

He also penned a few paragraphs on his time at the Bermuda Senior Islanders Centre at Admiralty House.

Mr Hassell added that the work developed into a “big book”, for which pictures and a cover design were required.

He said that he was tasked with finding a publisher and an artist.

Excited about the compilation, he added: “The book is interesting; it’s like a montage”.

Among his favourite chapters is one where he reproduced the prayers said in Parliament at the beginning of sessions of the House of Assembly and the Senate.

Mr Hassell said: “At the very beginning in the House, they say those prayers for Bermuda, so what I’m encouraging people to do as a special project is to join the prayers.

“How great it is that we can pray with our leaders. Where else in the world people can do that?”

He said he wrote a letter to Parliament for a special copy of the prayer.

Mr Hassell said that all his life he believed his late mother was from Antigua but during his hours of research and after a few trips to the Bermuda Archives, he thinks she may actually be from Montserrat.

He explained: “So I had to go down to the archives and do all this research and when I get there, I find that there’s no record of her.

“She could have been born in Montserrat and came over here as a child and all this time I’m thinking she was from Antigua.”

The finding is likely to spark some discussions within his family, he surmised.

Mr Hassell said writing the book opened his appetite to “appreciate life”, and he added that readers will find the information relatable.

Importantly, he said, a chapter in the book was dedicated to young people, mainly to teach them about the value of life.

He said he homed in on gang violence in the chapter and said he decided to speak more about thanatology, the study of death, to open their eyes “to the other side of life”.

Mr Hassell said: “Hey, maybe it could help, that they will understand that when they die, there is no coming back.

“They are not going to Canada or New York on a trip; we have to let them know that if they are going to be reckless or do these things, there is no coming back.

“We need to talk to them that way because when they are young they don’t think about death.”

Testimonials and acknowledgments from people and organisations including David Burt, the Premier, and Government House were among the highlights of Mr Hassell’s writing journey.

• Flog Your Memory: Write It Downis available at the Bermuda Book Store for $40