"He ends the story of his life lessons with "A Passing Thought," a poem that is both chilling and haunting."
Marifred Cilella
Head The Howard School
Atlanta, GA
"His time, without question, is of value to anyone who is serious about education, and the time that any reader devotes to traveling the world of learning with him will yield limitless value as well."
Michael F. McMurray English Teacher at Gulf University for Science & Technology (GUST)Kuwait
"An Independent Voice is a powerful account of an educator and scholar’s exceptional career."
Jefferson Burnett, Senior Vice President
National Association of Independent Schools
"Speaks memory - son, student, soldier, husband, banker, teacher, father, head, and leader, Dr. James Robert Shirley listens, hears, thinks, feels, nurtures, understands, shapes, balances, and directs learning communities through a life focused on uniting knowledge and goodness for the inclusion of others in the dance of education."
John Chuprevich, stoic of Diogenes,
in Davidson, N.C.
"An eloquent journey from childhood to retirement, An Independent Voice is a great look at life and education from the point of view of an expert in his field whose life experiences shaped not only his life, but the lives of the hundreds of students he impacted."
Former student: C.C.Gantt High School English Teacher Hampton, South Carolina
“His vision of a learning community comes directly from his heart and soul. Readers of INDEPENDENT VOICE will know Bob as a deep thinker, a servant leader, a thoughtful philosopher, a published poet, an entertaining storyteller and a constant learner. Bob’s learning will continue for as long as he breathes, and we will be better because of it.
Dr. Sandra Parker Adams