Surviving A Simple life is an entertaining and stirring chronicle of resilience. Patrick Smyth's typical suburban childhood in Johannesburg, South Africa, changed suddenly when, at the age of seven, he boarded a train to live at a boarding school surrounded by bush veldt. Life in the Spingbok Flats brought floods, droughts, and plagues of mice and insects. He met a range of bullies with courage and cunning. He invented mischievous solutions to boredom. As a soldier, he survived frightening encounters with elephants and other African animals. He escaped a nighttime confrontation with a bull elephant by climbing a hill. A sudden rain shower saved him from a dangerous bush fire. These and other adventures and challenges shaped and prepared him for life as an adult. He tells the story of an innovative, caring, irrepressible, and adventurous spirit determining its own course in life with very little nurturing or support. As a bonus, Patrick has included a chapter with his perspective on the lessons from the events in the story.