Linda DePass-Creque 
Reaching Back to Touch My Soul 
Thoughts on Love, Laughter and Living

In, Reaching Back to Touch My Soul: Thoughts on Love, Laughter and Living, everyone has a chance to read about the parts of life that matter most: love, laughter, and living a meaningful life. In today’s world, which is filled with so much nonessential data that clings to our mind like tissue paper to a shoe. Reaching Back to Touch My Soul gives us a chance to reconnect not only to each other but also to the often forgotten parts of ourselves.
The stories and essays in the book came into the world as op-ed pieces for The Virgin Islands Daily News. From different times, places and themes they have emerged as a family of ideas and grown as one.


There are three major themes in the book. The first is Love, the second, Laughter, and the last Living


Choosing Love as the starting point was easy, according to author Linda De Pass-Creque, ‘Love breathes life into everything else. It is from love that everything else flows’ The theme Laughter is a potpourri of topics and commentary written to make you smile as you take in its message. The last theme in this delightful book, Living, explores many of life’s ‘basic skills’, including coping, understanding, tolerance, friendship and sometimes making sense out of nonsense!


With the wonderful illustrations of each theme , its humor, and its wise, down- to- earth philosophy, this book is well worth reading.

About the author

Linda De Pas-Creque, Ph.D., is a noted educator, writer, and community advocate. She was born in New York City of Jamaican parents. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Education from City University and her doctorate from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. However, says Dr. Creque, ‘I got my sense of humor from my large, lovable, and somewhat ‘certifiable’ family, along with a sensitivity to the feelings and thoughts of others.’


Dr. Creque has had a rich and varied career. She is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who of American Women. She has taught gifted children in New York City, English in Puerto Rico, and has served as a teacher and/or administrator on all educational levels from preschool to college. In 1987 she was tapped to be the Commissioner of Education for the U.S. Virgin Islands, a position she served in with distinction for eight years.


In 1994 she founded the Virgin Islands Institute for Teaching and Learning, a 501(c) (3) nonprofit corporation, to serve the needs of the underserved Virgin Islands children and their parents. The Institute introduced literacy and health programs to provide children with beautiful award-winning books and activities to stimulate young minds.


Dr. Creque has traveled extensively throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and Europe and has served on numerous boards, including The University of the Virgin Islands Board of Trustees and The National Urban Alliance for Effective Education.


Although she has been an educator and community activist, Dr. Creque revealed that her passion has always been writing. ‘I have written since I was seven years old. Thank goodness, those earlier pieces were lost! I love writing. It is my elixir of choice, but life’s pathways do not always allow you to put your passions center stage. Therefore, I have been a ‘closet’ writer until recently, writing feverishly, fervently, with abandonÑwhile outwardly maintaining a mild-mannered persona.’


Linda Creque has been married to Leonard J. Creque for over thirty years. They have two children, Leah Creque and Michael Creque.