Letters to my mother written from Mindanao. the Philippines, during my 18 months as a volunteer teacher at Mindanao State University, are testimonials of a young optimist's ignorance of "near death experiences" of the physical variety. Other tales from a life lived on the edge, financially and physically, are told from a perspective of survival in this "Bannana book".Photographs illustrate scenes described in my journals and letters. My time among Moslems in Mindanao, presented in "real time", may be considered field work relevant to a discussion of today's threat of Islamic terror, which threatens western civilization with a "near death experience". My return to the Philippines, after 45 years away, (catalogued in "Bannana Returns to Mindanao") anticipates a reconnection of dots not imaginable when I wrote this book.Skiing on snow provided "near death experiences" of the physical variety while real estate moves and confrontations with "public servants" and judges in Finland caused "near death" financial and legal adventures.