Jordyn Fisher was 9 the last time she saw her grandfather, David L. White, the former Editor of The Royal Gazette.

She was living with her mother, Leslie White, in Arizona at the time.

“We took a trip to Bermuda and spent 2½ weeks with him,” she said. “It was a really beautiful time. He was not well but he was having good days. He was still him.”

Ms Fisher loved to sit in Mr White’s library and listen to his family stories.

Many people did not know how funny he was, Ms Fisher said.

“He was a very serious man in public. But he was the funniest person my mother and I knew. He had a very dry sense of humour. It would pull people out of whatever mood they were in. Knowing him personally was different from knowing him publicly.”

Mr White was Editor of The Royal Gazette from 1976 to 1998. He was also an active patron of the visual arts and one of the leading individual collectors of Bermudian-related works of art.

“He got into journalism to have a voice on the island,” she said. “He always had a passion for literature and writing. It was a natural progression.”

Mr White died in November 2013 after a long illness.

His love of writing lives on in Ms Fisher.

She is now writing a memoir about her life, dedicated partly to her grandfather and partly to her mother who died in 2021.

“The three of us shared a passion for writing,” she said.

The book has taken her over a year to write and is now in the editing phase.

“It has been difficult to reflect in certain areas,” she said. “I have faced several challenges including the traumatic passing of my mother.”

The book will also touch on her family history. She described herself as “1,000 per cent” Bermudian.

Ultimately, she said writing the book has been a healing journey for her.

“My mother moved to the US before I was born and chose Arizona mostly because of the climate,” she said. “We had no family there or connections.”

Each visit to Bermuda felt like slipping into a world that was already her own.

“It was not until my mother’s tragic passing that I understood just how profound my connection to the island truly was,” she said.

Ms Fisher spread her mother’s ashes at Spittal Pond in Smith’s, one of her favourite places.

Since then, she has returned to Bermuda often.

“Between my studies and responsibilities abroad, I have carved out every opportunity to be here,” she said. “Each trip deepens my feeling of belonging, sense of peace, and healing I have been searching for my whole life.

“Just a few weeks ago, I returned with my son, Aegis. He is four months old. We carried out a Bermudian baptism in the Atlantic. As the waves touched him, I felt a surge of certainty.”

She has decided that Bermuda will become her home for at least part of the year, and Portugal for the other half.

She hopes to continue her education in Europe, specialising in medical and international law.

“My hope is to bring that knowledge back, contribute to the island, and raise my son with the same pride in his heritage that I feel,” she said.

“Education is my way of honouring what my grandfather built – and creating a future for Bermuda that includes my son.”

She said honouring her grandfather was not just about remembering his story, but living his legacy forward.

“He built a life of presence and service on this island,” she said. “I want to do the same, in my own way.”

Ms Fisher has not yet settled on a title for her book but hopes to release it at the end of the year.