Semisi Pone

I was born in the tiny island Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific. Growing up in Tonga was a bit like Mark Twain's story of Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn. It was full of adventure and fun for a kid. After high school I left Tonga at 17 to further my studies in New Zealand. The city of Auckland was a much bigger place than Tonga and University was an eye opener in terms of "seeing other people's view points". There were protests almost every month. Groups protesting for Palestine, apartheid in South Africa, Nelson Mandela, Amnesty International, Justice for Steve Biko, Hare Krishna and other religions and so on. There were Hare Krishnas and other religions as well which I did not know existed. After graduating I started working in Tonga for the Ministry of Agriculture as a Plant Pathologist, in 1985. I completed my Master's degree, in 1988, and was promoted to the post of Senior Plant Virologist in 1991, while still with MAFF, Tonga, for my work on Vanilla (Vanilla fragrans) viruses, Kava (Piper methysticum) viruses and Squash pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) viruses.

I joined the University of the South Pacific Agriculture School in Apia, Samoa in 1992 where I was a Fellow in Tissue Culture. I maintained the in vitro collection of popular Pacific crops like kumara, banana, vanilla and yam in the Tissue Culture Lab, and disseminated plantlets for research and hurricane recovery to USP member countries on a regular basis, upon request. I also did some research on Vanilla and Sweet Potato in vitro there. This work is published in my book PLANT PROTECTION IN THE PACIFIC 3, Tissue Culture.

I joined the South Pacific Commission (SPC) Agriculture Programme, Suva, Fiji, in May, 1993. SPC is a 27 member country organisation in the Pacific, which is much bigger than the USP which had about 12 member countries in 1992. The SPC Headquarter is in Noumea, New Caledonia. It is now known as the Secretariat for the Pacific Community, since 1996. During my time with SPC, I was appointed to be an expert on Biosecurity with the Food an Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, Rome, for 7 years. I was also the Advisor and Head of the Plant Protection Service and Acting Chief Executive for the newly established Pacific Plant Protection Organization (1994). All my work in the Pacific are published in my series of books PLANT PROTECTION IN THE PACIFIC books 1-4. Additional information can be obtained from CONFESSIONS OF A SENIOR PLANT VIROLOGIST AND PATHOLOGIST, where humorous events and comments are added. Several advisory leaflets on vanilla, kava and squash are also available from amazon.com.

I migrated to Auckland, New Zealand from Fiji, in 1996, where I am now based. I was involved with many businesses for 14 years then decided to become a full time writer. I have always wanted to write since high school so it was the realization of a dream. I write about anything that interest me in verse or poetry, humor, religion, short stories and novels. I also write scientific books on my work in the Pacific Islands. I have more than 200 books and ebooks already published. Most of them are available from amazon.com. My books of humor are designed for group entertainment to stimulate discussion about social issues, to educate and stimulate 'a thinking kind of laughter'. You simply read out each joke to your group and invite witty or serious comments on the issue or joke. It will enhance the group's enjoyment and laughter. I call it 'interactive humor' because of the 'enjoyment and laughter resulting from the group's interaction'. The humor is also designed to comment on social injustice, political issues and important social matters. I have more than 2,000 original interactive jokes in those books so try and go through all of them.....and laugh a lot! Search for 'James Boss books of humor' to bring up the list.