WHAT could one day be important historical accounts of 21st-century life are not being recorded because people are out of the habit of writing diaries, a Bermudian historian said yesterday.

John Cox, who has written books such as Life in Old Bermuda, based largely on journals of ordinary people in past centuries, encouraged everyone to record their own lives in writing.

Mr. Cox will be one of four authors appearing before the public tomorrow evening in the first of a series of "up close" with the author sessions staged by the Friends of the College Library (FOCL).

And the historical value of personal journals is something he will stress.

"I think everyone should leave something behind in the form of a diary - but sadly keeping a diary is something we don't seem to do any more. No matter how insignificant we think our lives are or how little we think they will affect everyone's else's lives, it's important to write down our own stories.

"The main source of much of my historical writing has been the diaries of people, particularly women, in the 19th century.

"They also wrote down folklore passed on to them by previous generations."

The focus of FOCL's Saturday evening session, which starts at 7 p.m. in the Bermuda College library, is "Bermuda's history through the eyes of its people".

Mr. Cox said: "I'm looking forward to being able to talk about my greatest passion, which is writing, both creatively and about history.

"Writing about history, you can bring long-forgotten people back to life.

"What got me started was when my grandmother gave me a family Bible. It carried the names of her family, the Darrells of Warwick, and there were notes about their lives in the back. It struck me that history remembers a prominent few and everybody else falls through the cracks of time.

"These people led hard lives - men were lost at sea, women died in childbirth. These were my ancestors and when I read about their experiences it puts everything into perspective about how I got here."

The other authors accompanying Mr. Cox will be Jolene Bean, James Smith and Sandra Taylor Rouja.

Mr. Cox's books include Lords of the Marshes, a history of the Cox family, and Onion in the Snow. He will be releasing Bermuda Lore next spring.

Ms Bean is a history lecturer at the College with a special interest in social control in Bermuda in the 1930s and the women's suffrage movement on the island. Slavery in Bermuda was the topic of several pamphlets and articles by Mr. Smith, who remains a part-time consultant to the Cabinet Office since he retired four years ago.

Ms Taylor Rouja was born in Bermuda of Portuguese and British heritage and has written for the Bermuda Sun, The Bermudian and RG Magazine. She has also written two books, The St. George's Dream and Bermuda Cottage Diary.

The first author evening is dedicated to Dr. and Mrs. Archie Hallett, who have both written a number of historical books about Bermuda.

Everyone is welcome. Admission costs $2 for FOCL members and $5 for non-members.