"Higher Than the Fire" is the official autobiography of Robert Simmonds, who became world famous with his stage name Bobby Aitken as he developed an innovative musical style that became known as Ska, reggae, and Rock Steady. Having been born as the eighth child in a family of nine children, life was very good when he started out life in Cuba. His parents had immigrated from Cuba and his father had established a successful carpentry and trade business in Cuba. However, political changes came to Cuba and Simmonds's parents had to go back to their home country of Jamaica when Robert was age five. Back in Jamaica, things went bad quickly. The father went seeking, but ended up losing his money to local scam artists. A neighbor lady, who was known as a voodoo witch, apparently put a curse on his mother, causing her to become paralyzed for the rest of her life. The father disappeared from the family after being falsely accused of having leprosy. The family fell apart with the siblings scattering to other places to survive. Robert and his younger brother were left alone to fend for themselves and their crippled mother while living in huts and scavenging for food from dumpsters. In a few years, Robert and his younger brother were taken by the government to live in a hospice for the elderly. It was there that he made a banjo out of a sardine can, wires and wood. With no one teaching him music, he practiced learning to play his banjo by picking and picking away to make the musical sounds. A shock came when he and his brother were wrongly diagnosed as having leprosy, instead of the correct diagnosis of a skin ailment cause by a poor diet. They were sent away to the leprosy institute run by the nuns where incredibly after several years they found their father alive, living there as a destitute carpenter. They celebrated their reunion and Robert continued practicing on his banjo. In time, the nuns arranged for the Robert to live with a family when he turned eighteen. As he began to struggle to be on his own, he teamed up with a gang of other destitute boys, but always managed to stay out of jail. He continued a life of struggles. Along the way, his uncle gave him a construction job. Robert continued wanting to be a musician and went around playing the guitar. He met girls and had children. In time, he created his Carib-Beats band and got work in clubs around Jamaica. He finally met Dorett and they had children. Robert toured the Bahamas with his band and introduced his style of music, making him more popular. All the years as his music played on the radio he was not always treated fairly and often cheated out of his money. During one of the tours in the Bahamas, he saw a vision of Jesus and believed he could no longer escape from becoming a Christian. Ironically, Dorett had become a Christian back in Jamaica and they decided to get married. A well-meaning pastor in the Bahamas told Robert he should destroy his worldly music. Robert obeyed, but music that he had back in Jamaica was not destroyed. In time, Dorett went to the United States to look for work to help support the family. Robert had been hired by the Jamaican government to teach young people a construction trade. He managed to support his family as he taught at three different trade schools in Jamaica. In a few years, Robert and the children joined Dorett in Florida where Robert continued his music career and worked in the construction trade. Life became better for them in the United States and they managed to provide for their six children. A few years ago Robert was given a lifetime award for his music career and creative musical talents. He looks forward to writing his second book about his good and bad experiences relating to Christians and their attitudes about music.