BATW members Faith Adiele and Kimberley Lovato, along with Bridget Quinn, and Kirstin Vukovic, are holding an event on Saturday, September 22 at 1 p.m. at Book Passage in Corte Madera. The writers will be in casual conversation, discussing travel writing through genre via their new books (all published in 2024) that span memoir, fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature. Snacks and libations to follow!
Janet Rae-Dupree was named featured journalist for August by the North American Travel Journalists Association. The recognition included the opportunity to answer six questions about her life as a travel journalist.
The full bio and Q-and-A can be found at https://www.natja.org/featured-members/2024-august-featured-journalist-of-the-month-janet-rae-dupree/. The stream of social posts on Facebook and LinkedIn that ensued brought her back in touch with a number of old colleagues and may even result in some new assignments.
Alec Scott and BATW Co-President and editor Amy Sherman have just collaborated on another feature for the Chocolate Professor. “I’d written a bunch on the legacy chocolate companies in SF (Ghirardelli and Guittard), for my book Oldest San Francisco,” says Scott, “so, when Amy asked me if I’d write about chocolates breaking that final frontier … I said, “yes, please’.
In the reporting, I got to meet my first ever astronaut, as well as to spend time with the company’s proprietors, Michael and Jacky Recchiuti, as they spoke of how they turned their start-up into one of the nation’s top chocolatiers. Part one of the two-part feature dealt with the business and taste decisions they made to make the company go (https://www.thechocolateprofessor.com/blog/recchiuti-at-25); part two looks at the space-chocolate project (https://www.thechocolateprofessor.com/blog/recchiuti-astreas-chocolate-outer-space).
Lalit Kumar conducted a Nature and Adventure Poetry workshop at Santa Clara City library on July 10, 2024, drawing upon his latest book on California Outdoors, ‘Yosemite of my Heart’. (Attaching the graphics if that can be included). Kumar’s poem ‘Kayaking in Channel Island’ was also published recently on the CA Poet Laureate website https://capoetlaureate.org/santa-clara-county. And his latest article in India Currents magazine ‘Under an Orange Summer Sky in the Sierra foothills’ can be read here.
David Landis (whose alias is “The Gay Gourmet”) travelled recently to Carmel with his husband and his pound pups, Gaston and Alphonse. His findings? After years of mediocre culinary outings, there now are a handful of new must-eat destinations (some with Michelin recognition) – along with a few misses. The San Francisco Bay Times recently published his recommendations:
https://sfbaytimes.com/carmels-new-culinary-hits-and-misses/
Marybeth Bond published an article based on the SATW gathering in Cody, Wyoming this summer. She says Cody is a true slice of the Wild West, where cowboy hats are a staple, Western scenes come alive through vibrant paintings and photographs, and nightly summer rodeos thrill spectators. Founded by the legendary Buffalo Bill, who launched his Wild West Show to celebrate and preserve Western heritage, Cody now dazzles with five Smithsonian-affiliated museums. Read her article here.