Darrell Gartrell

 Author Recounts Two Decade Odyssey Japan

Fascinating memoir follows Darrell Gartrell to Japan where he grows a national English-language boutique of nearly 800 students out of a local McDonald’s.

Savannah, GA, December, 2016 - International entrepreneur, teacher and writer, Darrell Gartrell traveled the world to escape the rough streets of Los Angeles. What he found was immense success in Osaka as the owner of a network of English-language educational centers called Wisdom21.   After two sensational decades, what followed was a failing infrastructure that pitted him against government agents, mob figures, and a woman scorned. These experiences now appear in Gartrell’s memoir, 21 Years of Wisdom: One Man’s Extraordinary Odyssey in Japan.

Gartrell uses this memoir to tell the thrilling, true tale of his experiences as an African American man living in Japan. It details his ambition to begin a new life in a new country - one to which he had never traveled - and how he had gone from the humble beginnings of private English lessons at an Osaka McDonald’s to a network of six successful educational centers, dozens of employees, and thousands of clients across the country.

Readers will connect with Gartrell’s passion for life, intuition and his ability to reinvent himself after a marked fall from grace. They’ll learn more about Japanese culture, through the unique perspective of an African American man, and they’ll understand the common challenges of developing a small business, no matter the location, culture or language.

The deeper implications of his memoir bring to light the difficulties that arise when one is unprepared for the growth and success that one worked so hard to attain. Most importantly, Gartrell’s memoir touches on something that any reader can benefit from, the Japanese cultural phenomenon of Gaman, “enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity.” Gaman is how Gartrell succeeded in such a different culture, and how he rebuilt his life after so many missteps and business blunders to become the inspirational person he is today.

Gartrell is available for interviews and appearances. For booking presentations, media appearances, interviews, and/or book-signings contact: corp_pro@hotmail.com.