Monty's Bridge to Tomorrow (モンティの明日への架け橋)

The present textbook entitled “Monty’s Bridge to Tomorrow” was created to commemorate Montgomery (“Monty”) Dickson, who perished in the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami on March 11, 2011. After graduating from UAA in May 2009 with a B.A. in Japanese, Monty participated in the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program and taught English in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. He taught English at the local elementary and middle schools as well as an adult English class. He cherished Japanese culture, and it was his dream to be a bridge over the Pacific Ocean to connect his homeland and Japan. On the morning of March 11, Monty translated words by an internationally known Japanese author, Ryotaro Shiba, into English, “There’s nothing as beautiful as dedicating one’s life for a cause.” He was 26 years old.