Twenty One Summers

How many summers do we really have to live the life we imagine?

If you count the years between childhood and eighty, most of us get roughly twenty-one adult summers to shape the life we want to live. It’s more time than we sometimes fear—and far less than we often assume.

Twenty One Summers is a thoughtful exploration of how we spend our most valuable resource: time.

Through 17 compelling stories spanning Japan, Russia, South Carolina, and beyond, the book introduces people who made bold choices, unexpected pivots, and meaningful trades in pursuit of lives that felt more intentional and alive. Artists, activists, executives, and everyday adventurers each offer a window into the decisions that shaped their paths.

Along the way, the book examines:

• The blind spots that quietly steer our lives
• The difference between motion and real progress
• How expanding our world can change what we believe is possible
• Why the trades we make—with time, comfort, and risk—define our future

Part reflection and part practical guide, Twenty One Summers encourages readers to step back from the noise of daily life and consider the bigger question:

What would you do differently if you understood how precious the summers ahead really are?

Whether you are starting out, navigating midlife change, or simply looking to make your time count more fully, this book offers stories and ideas that may help you begin writing the next chapter of your own life.

Thomas is the author of the books The Business of Fine Art Photography, Routledge, New York, and The Fashion Image for Bloomsbury Publishing, London, with an upcoming book co-authored with Microsoft BING and AI team leader Derrick Connell due out in early 2026. He is also an Editor at Large for IRKmagazine, a Paris based print publication and website, Board Member for the Santa Fe CENTER for Photographic Art, and past Photography Program Director at Parsons School of Design in New York. He is the former owner of Thomas Werner Gallery in Manhattan's Chelsea Art District, and a former National Board member and New York Chapter President for the American Society of Media Photographers. As well as a former Advisory Board Member for Ithaca College's Executive Education Program, contributor to Adobe's Lightroom Academy, and a 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.Werner led a team developing a media and literacy website for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations/UNESCO and was a recurring instructor for the United Nations Education First Summer School. From 2005 - 2019 he worked with the United States Department of State on cultural projects in Russia partnering with 32 cultural, educational, and governmental organizations to develop projects in 29 cities. Partners have included; The State Hermitage Museum, the National Center of Contemporary Art, Perm Regional Government, The Moscow Biennale for Young Art, National Centre of Photography for the Russian Federation, The Central State Archive of Film, Photographic and Phonographic Documents, The Moscow Biennale, and others. His private collection of Russian photographs and artifacts have been exhibited internationally.Currently a consultant, Thomas works one on one with students, creatives, businesses, cultural institutions, and not for profits, helping them with career development, team management, innovation, education, and the development of effective communication across multiple media platforms.

Derrick is one of the world's leading software executives in the fields of Search and AI. From 2011 to 2020 he was the corporate vice president for Microsoft's Search and AI business and one of the leading advisors to the current CEO Satya Nadella on the company's AI strategy. During this period he created a profitable multi-billion dollar business for the company. Derrick also led global product and engineering teams comprised of 4,000 of the world's best product managers, machine learning scientists, software developers and designers, tasked with delivering global products and services directly to consumers via partners such as Apple, Amazon, Meta, Twitter and Yahoo, or through Microsoft products such as Windows, Office, Azure and xBox. He has also co-created products with companies such as; Apple with the integration of Microsoft's core AI service as part of Siri, Facebook with the co-development of a social search service, and a number of collaborations with Twitter, Amazon and Yahoo. He is the holder of multiple US patents and has multiple patents pending, including one with Bill Gates and others with several of the world's leading information retrieval computer scientists. He was a founding member of the team who created the Bing search engine the technology powers Microsoft's search engine. Derrick also led the development of many new search and AI features in Microsoft Windows, Office, and xBox. Over the course of his career at Microsoft he has worked directly with all three of the company's CEO's, Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, and Satya Nadella.Derrick currently works as an advisor to many companies around the world, including the UK based Ocado. Advising them on their technology investments in robotics and AI. He also advises innovation start-ups in the field of mixed reality, helping them deliver on their vision of the Metaverse and AI to deliver products across multiple fields. One company, Mesmerise, recently launched a joint venture with the Mayo Clinic.