Today I Am a Boy: A Memoir Hardback - 2000

When David Hays was 66 and had joined a synagogue for the first time in over fifty years, he decided to study Hebrew and be a bar mitzvah. And so this world-renowned theatrical designer, founder of the legendary National Theatre of the Deaf, father of two grown children and coauthor of the best-selling "My Old Man and the Sea," borrowed his grandson's beginner's Hebrew workbook and joined a class of twelve-year-olds. It launched a wondrous journey of faith and community.

In "Today I Am a Boy," Hays's new world begins to intersect with his own history: on Yom Kippur, Hays, who has sailed around Cape Horn with his son, reads the story of Jonah to the congregation and gives a sermon on the Old Testament and the sea. His long-dormant love of learning is wholly rekindled. At the stage of life when most of us begin to slow down, Hays feels more alive than ever, rejuvenated by newfound connections to his youth and faith.

His recently deceased mother, his grand-children and children all play roles in this funny and ultimately moving narrative. In the world of these pages, the generations do not simply pass from one to another; they intertwine, learning from one another. The ardent boy in this eminent man has been reawakened, and in his words, "I now understand that everything that I've done in my life that has been fine has been done in the spirit of that boy."

"Today I Am a Boy" is a brave, clear-eyed and joyous examination of life.