The first person who told me “You should write a book about your life,” was my father. I had returned from the US with stories of my travels in Australia and America. My dad wanted to know in detail what I had done in the three years away from home; he recorded my tales on a wire-recorder which he had built himself. I was twenty-one, thought that I had not done anything to write about and was not interested in writing my stories down.

To my parent’s dismay, I had immigrated to Australia at 18; I had been the youngest cab driver in Sidney, worked as a jackaroo (trainee cowboy) in Queensland and a crocodile hunter in Cape York Peninsula. After two years I had moved to the U.S.A. to become a cowboy in Texas, a salesman, a waiter, and for four months -and four days - a soldier in the American army in Fort Polk, Louisiana. I was diagnosed as: “…has a severe history of nomad-ism. The army makes him nervous.”

At twenty-three, I had lived some of my childhood dreams, but my curiosity was not satisfied. I needed to see if any reality mirrored what I’d seen in the Hollywood movies. I went back to Australia and on to SE-Asia. Burma (Myanmar), was closed for tourists but I’d seen the movie ‘Bridge over the River Kwai’ and I wanted to see if there was something left of the ‘Death Railway’, so I joined the pro Unu rebels in Eastern Thailand, and crossed illegally the border into Burma;  then there were Laos, Cambodia and the war in Vietnam, all waiting for me.

I wanted to see and experience so much; and had only one problem: money. I was broke, (US $0.75) when I walked into S. Vietnam, during the Tet Offensive. Soon, I found a job as a sound-man with UPI tv, then free-lance cameraman. I traded a 9mm Browning pistol, which I’d picked up in the field for a Nikon F with a 105mm lens with Dana Stone, we had become good friends.

I preferred being a photojournalist to being a UPI tv staff cameraman. It gave me more freedom, but much less money. It was the beginning of my career. In 1972 I left Southeast Asia, and arrived in Chile in January 1973. After I had covered the military coup against President Allende, I traveled through South America for a year, covering the culture, economy, poverty, violence, funerals and unrest in countries like Argentina, Columbia, and Venezuela. Then I needed money -Gamma, the photo agency I worked with, had not paid me my share since I had arrived more than a year ago. I went back to Europe to collect.

At the end of 1975 I again returned to Europe but I still had some unfulfilled dreams, and when somebody suggested I go to Hollywood, the origin of my curiosity, I went. The rest is history, my big break: Apocalypse Now. Finally, in 1989, after 14 yrs working in Hollywood, I’d had enough; I quit photography, bought a 44ft sailboat and left Los Angeles for good. The next 34 years I sailed around the world with my partner Monika and survived financially by chartering.

Most people did not believe me when I told them about what I had experienced in my life; from Australia, to Vietnam and Hollywood. I heard: “I don’t believe that” “You’re full of shit” or “What you’re telling me is not true, I read in the papers / saw on television ...” But there were also those who told me to write a book about my experiences.

I wrote my autobiography in English, as my Dutch was a bit rusty after traveling the world for six decades. Though I could not find an American publisher, I found one in the Netherlands, the script was translated into Dutch, and ‘The Strange and Curious Life of Chas Gerretsen’ was published in 2021, to great acclaim.

All kinds of things were written about me, that I was courageous, stupid, lucky and naive, but I did what I wanted to do: I followed my Hollywood-inspired dreams, and now share them with all those who are interested. That same year, I published the photo-book: ‘Apocalypse Now: The Lost Photo Archive’ and in 2023 followed: ‘Chile: The Photo Archive 1973-1974’ both received excellent reviews.

Hundreds have asked me on social media if I will publish my autobiography in English? I would like to, but so far have not found a US publisher. (hint, hint)

Some of the comments in the Dutch Press on my autobiography:

“Thunders on in the spirit of Hemingway, Tintin and "‘I, Jan Cremer.’”  – NRC Handelsblad

 “A bizarre life story.”  – Menno Bentveld bij Tijd voor Max

'More insane than you can imagine. [...] An irresistible book.' – Jeroen Vullings bij Nieuwsweekend op NPO Radio 1'