Young Man You Forgot Your Overcoat: Around The World In Fifty years (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781677011230)

Colm Madden, a world-traveled hotelier, in 1966 left a somewhat provincial Ireland to work in Pakistan. Thus, began his nomadic life In East Pakistan, he experienced the imposition of martial law, witnessed destruction that followed, and the seeds of revolution sown for the creation of Bangladesh. Moving to Syria before continuing to Kenya, his next assignment, where unresolved issues between Israel and the Arab World following the six-day war exposed the fragility of both domestic and international relations. He witnessed Israeli aircraft attacking Syria and in Damascus the mysterious disappearance of political opposition. In Nairobi he opened the InterContinental in 1969, relishing the tranquility, shattered later that year by the assassination of Tom Mboya a prominent government minister, riots ensued, and two people died, with many injured. One year later he moved to Europe, working in Ireland, Germany, and England, opening the London InterContinental Hotel. He returned to Ireland and joined Great Southern Hotels to manage the Kenmare Hotel. A year later he moved to Northern Ireland. The 'troubles' still raged, and in the hotel, he managed, a bomb was placed in a guest room. Thus, when offered to partner ownership of hotels in Canada he accepted, that partnership was fraught with intrigue, and soon dissolved. Moving to Bermuda he became an advisor hotel school. Life there was easy until Hurricane Emily roared through one morning in 1987 wreaking havoc and devastating the Island. Returning to Canada in 1988 he joined Sheraton Hotels in Nova Scotia and remained until 1991. He moved to Sint Maarten in the Caribbean to Port de Plaisance Resort. Development was delayed and his life was threatened. So in 1994, he moved to the Sheraton Casino Tunica, Mississippi, living in Memphis, Tennessee, experiencing this iconic city. One year later he was back in Nova Scotia, Canada, to open a Casino there. In June of 2003, Colm retired and sailed 'Sixpence' his sailboat from Nova Scotia to Spain, a voyage of five weeks. Retirement in Spain disappointed, so he moved to Goa, India where he now lives.