Name: Elizabeth (Liz) Jones

Position: Freelance columnist and writer

Year started: 1998 (I think!)

What was your first job for The Bermudian?

I wrote an article on the history of transportation in Bermuda

Last thought before you get to work in the morning?

Thank heavens I don’t have to travel further than a room.  Most of the time, I work at home.

Best day ever at work?

Meeting Diana Douglas Darrid. She was great because she was so honest.

Favourite part of the job?

Starting with a blank screen or page and filling it up with meaningful words.

Worst part of the job?

Being stuck with a blank screen or page with no words coming at all, let alone meaningful ones.

What is one thing that people would be surprised to learn about you?

I love Lee Child Jack Reacher novels

What was your first job ever?

I was an usherette and an ice cream seller in a cinema in Wiltshire. I saw The Sound of Music 53 times. I know exactly when Julie Andrews will blink in that movie.

What was your career ambition as a child?

I said it was to be a dentist. That seemed to please grown ups. I really wanted to be a writer.

What type of student were you?

Goody goody until pushed – then a rebel.

Who was the most influential person in your life?

For the first 20 or so years of my life, my father.

What’s the best advice you have ever received?

I hesitate to say it – because it’s so unliberated for the feminist times of my formative years. “Marry Mike Jones,” my father said. “if you don’t, you’ll always regret it.”  Dear reader, I married him and I’ve never regretted it.

What can you not live without?

Words, words, words. Reading material – preferably books but if it has to be a Kindle, so be it.

What are you best known for?

Am not sure – maybe my teaching once and now writing.  Maybe a sense of humour.

Do you have a nickname?

Not in Bermuda. When I was a school girl in the UK, I was called Shakey because I loved Shakespeare and when nervous, did shake. I still do both.

What’s your best day?

My best day always happens when I least expect it and usually it has to do with a rush of love for family, friends and the natural world around me. It can also mean a burst of creativity that gives me satisfaction. It might give me an article or a story as well.

If you had the political power, what would you do to improve Bermuda right now?

Do much, much more to protect open spaces. Make it more economically viable for both mothers and fathers to spend more time at home with children.

What is your pick for BEST:

Restaurant: Lobster Pot

Coffee shop: The Spot

Sweet treat: Crème brule, particularly at Rustico’s

Local hotspot: For the birds! Spittal Pond

Local tradition: Kite flying and Good Friday in general

Local fare: Fish chowder, particularly at the Black Horse in St. David’s.

Local character: How difficult a question is that? So many to choose from. I choose musician, poet, dramatist, activist, Bermuda’s Renaissance man, Ronald Lightbourne, not just for his gifts but also for his unfailing generosity of spirit to fellow artists.

Beach: Long Bay, Coopers Island

Thing about living in Bermuda: It’s like living in a cosmopolitan village – you get the interconnectedness but also the diversity. It’s never boring. And the history fascinates me.