21 Summers
About this ebook
If you step back and think about adulthood in seasons rather than years, most of us are given roughly twenty-one summers to explore, build, change direction, and decide what truly matters. It’s enough time to live intentionally—if we recognize it while we still have it.
Twenty One Summers explores how people make the decisions that shape their lives.
Through seventeen stories spanning continents, readers encounter individuals who faced moments of choice and uncertainty—from artists and activists to executives and everyday adventurers. Their journeys reveal how curiosity, courage, and perspective can open new paths and redefine what is possible.
Along the way, the book reflects on ideas that influence how we spend our time, including:
• Recognizing the blind spots that quietly guide our decisions
• Expanding the boundaries of what we believe is possible
• Understanding the trades we make between comfort, risk, and opportunity
• Learning how small shifts in perspective can create meaningful change
Thoughtful, reflective, and practical, Twenty One Summers invites readers to pause and consider an essential question:
If you measured your life in summers instead of years, what choices would you make differently?
Whether you are beginning your career, navigating a period of change, or simply reflecting on how to spend your time more intentionally, this book offers stories and ideas that may help you shape the summers still ahead.
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About the author
THOMAS WERNER is the author of The Business of Fine Art Photography, Routledge, The Fashion Image, Bloomsbury Publishing, and Twenty One Summers to be released April 19th, 2026. He is an Editor at Large for IRKmagazine: Paris, Board Member for the Santa Fe CENTER for Photographic Art, Co-founder of Chasing Beauty Publishing, and the former owner of Thomas Werner Gallery in Manhattan’s Chelsea Art District. Thomas is a past Photography Program Director at Parsons School of Design in NY, former National Board member for the American Society of Media Photographers, contributor to Adobe’s Lightroom Academy, and photography consultant for COACH, among others. As an exhibiting artist Thomas was represented by galleries in New York and Los Angeles, and his work reviewed in The New Yorker Magazine. He is currently a creative consultant, Thomas works one on one with creatives, businesses, cultural institutions, and not for profits.
DERRICK CONNELL is one of the world’s leading software executives in the fields of Search and AI. While at Microsoft, he worked directly with Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, and Satya Nadella. He has co-created and delivered global products with partners such as Apple, Amazon, Meta, Twitter, and Yahoo, and on Microsoft products like Bing, Windows, Office Suite, Azure, xBox, and AI. With seven US Patents approved and nine US Patents pending. Derrick has led global product teams of over 4,000 of the world’s best product managers, machine learning scientists, and designers, as he has created products that have changed our lives. He is currently an advisor to tech companies around the world, advising them on their technology investments in robotics and helping them deliver on their vision of the Metaverse and AI.
