Category: Memoir
A Mother’s Memory of Her son’s bootcamp graduation.
Some years ago, I took an emeritus class at U.C. Irvine in travel writing. There I learned that a travel essay needs to be more than a travelogue. To grab readers, travel writing should also have attitude. The writer’s voice is essential, as it is through their eyes the reader views the adventure. I hope…
Chinese Morning
Beijing, 2002 TOM BURST INTO THE HOTEL ROOM. “I’ve found the market!” he said. “It’s just around the corner.” His enthusiasm pulled me out of my jet-lagged stupor more effectively than the two cups of tea I had just drunk. We had arrived in Beijing the afternoon before. After eating a Chinese meal in a…
A Man In Love With His Wife.
Sicily, near Palermo. 1972 We met Albert and Rosalia fifty years ago, and our few minutes of friendship shine in my memory. Tom and I were on the honeymoon of a lifetime, living in a Volkswagen van and traveling from one continent to another, from one country to another. Twenty-four hours before, we had endured…
Finding My Jewish Story
I EXPERIENCED EUROPE for the first time on a family trip in the summer of 1960. My seventeen-year-old romantic heart fell in love with Venice with its pastel buildings, sparkling water, twisting alleyways, and spires gleaming in the sun. Even the presence of my mother with her rules and judgements and my little sister with…
Origins of a Novel
EVERY TIME I HOLD one of the silver spoons in my hand, I remember. My thumb strokes the simple design on the handle, the capital L and the flat, crossed ribbons. I admire the elegant shape of the spoon, and I remember. It is not even my memory. It is my grandmother’s. I grew up…
Balanced Memoirs of the Un-famous
Celebrity memoirs frequently appear on best seller lists, but what of the memoirs of the unfamous? If your name is well-known in the arts or politics, publishers will clamor for anything you might write. But, when a regular person with an interesting story writes a memoir, one of the first dilemmas they encounter is how…
Four Books about the Silk Road
For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by the Silk Road. Before adoption of the magnetic compass and advances in ship design in the early 1500s, this overland journey, also known as the Spice Road, served as the main trade route between China and Europe. Visions of camel caravans crossing the…
On the Hippie Trail with Two Brits
Some time ago, John found me through my web-site and emailed me in response to my interest in stories of about the Hippie Trail overland to India. Recently, he and I visited on Zoom. His story follows.
The Ultimate Road Trip Memoir
In 2007, Dina and Bernard joined the Centennial Beijing to Paris Motor Challenge, a 36-day car rally that would stretch for 9316 miles across the Gobi desert, Siberia, Russia, and eastern Europe. Married for twenty years, the couple had owned and operated a successful business together. In 2005 they were living on a ranch in…
Seven Types of Travelers. What Kind are you?
What kind of traveler are you? I don’t mean how experienced you are or if you prefer to travel locally or internationally. I’m interested in what activities and experiences make travel special for you. Recently, I got to thinking about this after I received two very different reviews of my memoir, Wherever the Road Leads,…