Suzanne's Friend Comments

Oops. I made a typo. "ForeWord Magazine" has named "America's Living History - The Early Years" as a finalist for 2007. The winners will be announced in May based on the next round of reviews, which includes input from librarian and bookstore judges. I'm delighted that my history-travel book has gotten so far.

Thanks Daniel. I hope you enjoy the book and can put it to good use. The bulk of my readers are armchair travelers, but those who also use "America's Living History - The Early Years" on trips around America have a great time. Historical sites can be quite fascinating, and they have much to tell us about what it means to be "American."

I'm pleased to say we just received notice that prestigious "Forward Magazine" has named "America's Living History - The Early Years" as a finalist among the best books of 2007. (The top winners will be named in May.) The book received similar recognition in two categories of the National Best Books 2007 Awards sponsored by USABookNews.com.

OK Suzanne, I've added your book America's Living History: The Early Years to my to-read list.

Daniel - To be honest with you, this was a far greater project than I appreciated when it began in earnest three years before publication. Once all the text was written and all the photos were chose, we asked for review and comments from every site featured in the book. The historians and archivists were kind enough to give us their input, although a little friendly nagging was sometimes required. We wanted to ensure that the historical facts were correct and that the tourist descriptions fairly represented how the sites describe themselves. As you might imagine, "people being people," I had to re-write a couple of features. Not everyone appreciated my "take" on things.

So don't feel bad about not doing such a thing yourself. It's HARD work.

I've circled the globe many times myself while working for Pan American Airlines, Suzanne and although I too have written a few books, I've never even thought about writing about all those places. And now it's too late because that was close to half a century ago and I've forgotten most of it. I'll send you a link to my latest book.