MISSION & PROFILE

Allow me to share my vision and products with you. My name is Deacon Ritterbush and my mission is to introduce people to the fascinating, healthful, healing and affordable world of beachcombing.

My belief is that beachcombing offers people ready-made opportunities to positively transform their lives at little or no financial cost. My goal is to put beachcombing at the forefront of the growing “health—family—kids back to nature" movements by introducing this pastime through books, seminars, conferences, the Internet and other media as well as the formation of The Association of Beachcombers International. (If interested in participating, please email me.)

My beachcombing experience spans five decades and stretches from Chesapeake Bay to Europe, the Caribbean, Hawaii and the South Pacific. I have explored some wonderfully remote shores that yielded fascinating beach treasures. Because I believe that "context" leads to a greater appreciation of everything, I draw on my research background and anthropological training to learn more about each artifact I find.

Currently, I organize and run Archaeology at the Beach workshops and Beachcombing Explorer Arts Camps in the Chesapeake Bay region of Maryland I am also writing books on the beachcombing experience. Most of these books focus on beachcombing in particular regions of the world. The first three volumes, however, are personal “beachlogs” or accounts of beachcombing experiences, both mine and others. Each book includes stunning photos of artifacts, life lessons learned on particular beaches, and historical, geographical and scientific facts. A Beachcomber’s Odyssey, vol. I: Treasures from a Collected Past" will be available for purchase by mid-December 2008. Advanced orders of signed, numbered first editions can be placed on this website in the PRODUCTS section.

On the personal front, I an American married to a Tongan archaeologist and the mother of three children. I was a member of the first female class of Kenyon College, graduated from American University in Washington, D.C., and, as an East-West Center Scholar, received an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii. I trained as a writer, an anthropologist and a political economist and have worked or consulted for governments and organizations worldwide including the World Bank, USAID, the East-West Center, Save the Children Foundation, the Peace Corps, the Tongan Development Bank and the Australian Development Assistance Board. I've won awards for original screenplays; written and directed TV documentaries; and published articles and photographs in books, scholarly compendiums, newspapers and magazines such as Country Living, La Vie Claire and Chesapeake Life.

In 2005, I resumed writing full-time. Sometimes I'd head to the beach to clear my mind and as I walked, I beachcombed. One day I realized how integral an activity beachcombing had always been in my life. No matter the location, the weather, the mood or the circumstances, I beachcomb and the hobby never fails to provide me with a fascinating array of artifacts; an inexpensive way to achieve better mental, emotional and physical health; and a spiritual means to weather life’s many moods and challenges. An hour or two of beach exploring always cheers me up, calms me down, lends perspective, recharges my batteries and provides me with an entertaining, healthful way to spend time with my children.

I am committed to sharing these ideas about beachcombing with all who desire a more natural, peaceful and affordable way to enhance their health, broaden their interests, develop new friendships and strengthen family bonds.