Biographers, From Superstar to Novice, Gather in New York
How do you go about writing and publishing a biography when you’ve never done anything like that before? I owe Biographers International Organization (BIO) a lot in getting me to the finish line of my newly published book. For years, biography was a neglected stepchild of the literary world. A mashup of history, literature, area…
Read More“Today” Show Airs My Eliza Scidmore Story
Pretty amazing experience for this first-time author, when I was interviewed for NBC’s “Today” show in a program that aired March 30. It spotlighted the life and career of Eliza Scidmore, the subject of my new book, and her critical role in bringing Japanese cherry blossoms to Washington a century ago. You can see the…
Read MoreMajor Book Event: Meetup With Taft Descendent
In events surrounding the launch of my book on Eliza Scidmore, it was thrilling—and great fun—to share the stage with presidential great-granddaughter Patricia Taft. We were the featured speakers at a sold-out “Still Blooming Luncheon” on March 23 at the University Club in Washington. The event, sponsored by the National Cherry Blossom Festival, featured a…
Read MoreQ&A: On Ups and Downs of Writing a Book
I’ve been an independent writer and editor a long time. But no one I know does a better job of running a professional writing business than Paula Tarnapol Whitacre. She kindly devoted space this month in her newsletter to interviewing me about my new book. Here’s the link to read it. Paula seems to quickly…
Read MoreScidmore Biography Set for March 1 Release
The book, published by Oxford University Press, is set for launch in U.S. bookstores on March 1, 2023. If you order from Oxford’s website (at www.oup.com), you can use the promotion code AAFLYG6 to get a 30% discount. Here are some other sources: Bookshop.org benefits independent bookstores with the convenience of online shopping. Politics &…
Read MoreRecalling My Fabulous Glacier Bay Research Trip
(Reposted from August 2018) An email out of the blue from U.S. park ranger Caitlin Campbell sparked my first trip to Alaska this summer, capped by a special experience at Glacier Bay. Caiti first contacted me a year ago after stumbling across the website and blog I started to chronicle my progress on a biography…
Read MoreScidmore’s Alaska Travel Airs on BBC
Thanks to the brief posting of a video on YouTube, I was able to see my cameo appearance on BBC2’s “Great American Railroad Journeys.” My interview with the program’s host, Michael Portillo, took place in Juneau in the summer of 2018. [Note: The online video has since been removed.] I was in Alaska at the…
Read MoreEliza Scidmore Sports a New Look
On a research run through the Internet I come across this woodcut illustration of my book subject, Eliza Scidmore. It was made by an L.A. artist named Bijou Karman for an online National Geographic series on “21 Women Travelers Who Changed the World.” You can see the list of women and their portraits here. I…
Read MoreThe Englishman Who Saved Cherry Trees
Cherry blossom viewers love the variety known as “yoshino.” The white petals tinged in pink make up the clouds that encircle the Tidal Basin in Washington every spring. In “The Sakura Obsession,” the author Naoko Abe shows a flip side of that enthusiasm. Her new book tells the story of an Englishman so concerned about…
Read MoreRichmond Offers a Great History-Packed Weekend
How is it I never knew what a great town Richmond is? It’s only a hundred miles south of our home in Washington, so I’m baffled why Bruce and I didn’t explore it sooner. We ended our recent weekend there vowing to go back, as there’s a lot more we want to see and do.…
Read More