Adventurer, philanthropist, quantity surveyor and consultant Martyn Bould can now add author to his portfolio of titles with the publication of his autobiography ‘More Than Just The Climb’.
Published just a few weeks before his 80th birthday, ‘More Than Just The Climb’ covers Bould’s near-60 years in the Cayman Islands and the wider Caribbean as well as his travels to more than 120 countries with his wife, Vivian.
The title refers not only to the mountains climbed by Bould over the years, including Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua and Mount Fuji in Japan, which he summitted in his 70s, raising thousands of dollars for charitable causes, but also, he says, to the figurative mountains he climbed while watching Cayman change from a population of just 10,000 into a thriving financial centre.
Royal honours
Having qualified as a quantity surveyor, Bould moved to the Cayman Islands in 1969. He was honoured by Queen Elizabeth II in 2012 for services in preserving and developing Caymanian culture and by the Cayman Islands Government in the 2025 National Heroes Day Awards. Bould is also a director of the Bould Foundation which provides bursaries to young Caymanians to further their careers.
Speaking at the Cayman Islands launch party for ‘More Than Just The Climb’ at the Harquail Theatre – his book also had a London launch a week earlier – Bould said that his original draft took four years to write and came in at a hefty 300,000 words.
“The publishers said it would never sell at that length, so it was reduced by about a third,” he said.
Given that it covers an entire lifetime, from Bould’s birth in the Midlands, UK 80 years ago, to arriving in the Caribbean in 1969, there’s certainly a lot to fit in, so what made him start to write his life story?
“My wife Vivian kept hearing me tell all these stories, and said to me, ‘Listen, you need to write this down otherwise all these stories will be gone forever,'” he said.
Bould said that he found the writing process “quite cathartic” and was helped by having kept a diary for most of his life as well as keeping items of interest which prompted his memory.
“When I moved to Cayman there were less than 10,000 people living here, and now there’s 85,000, so there’s always a challenge here of how to manage the commercial and social development of the country,” he said. “I spent 40 years working with the Cayman National Cultural Foundation here, which has made tremendous strides and which I think is key to making Caymanians feel proud of being Caymanian.”
During his speech at the book launch on 28 Nov., Bould described ‘More Than Just The Climb’ as “about life’s lessons well learned … about culture, construction and travel,” and gave a hint of the stories it contains, from working on major construction projects such as Baha Mar resort in the Bahamas, The Great House in Grand Cayman and the creation of the Harquail Theatre itself, as well as being on the board of the Cayman National Cultural Foundation and behind its many cultural initiatives.
“I was born in the UK but the Caribbean has become my life for almost 60 years and there’s a richness about it – I’ve been introduced to so many people who have enriched my life,” he said.
Copies of his book were being snapped up by guests at the launch party, who were also treated to a hilarious but good-natured ‘roast’ of Bould by comedians Matt Brown and Michael McLaughlin.
Writing his life story hasn’t stopped Bould, who turns 80 this month, from planning more adventures. Next on the cards is a climb of Cotopaxi in Ecuador, one of the world’s highest volcanoes at 19,347 feet “as long as my wife approves,” he added.
More Than Just A Climb is available from Book Nook, Next Chapter or from Bould Consulting’s office on the 4th floor of the Genesis Building.
Related Videos
