Ladies,

This post is from Lori. I had to cut and paste it. That's why my name appears as the post-er.

Good morning, all. I'm Lori Hein, author of "Ribbons of Highway: A Mother-Child Journey Across America." Dotsie has invited me to be May's Featured Author, and I thank her for her warm support and for the opportunity to chat with you over the coming month.

It's a gloomy morning here in Boston. We've been having rain, and more is promised. I'm glad this is an electronic rather than live forum, because I have laryngitis from standing outside in a cold rain for two hours at my son's track meet. Two hours to see him sprint 200 meters, an event that lasts a minute. Ah, motherhood...

I hope we'll have a lot to talk about this month. I'll tell you a bit about myself and my book to get us started. (And you'll find full bio, book excerpts and reviews, and travel stories and photography at my website, www.LoriHein.com , and my world travel blog, http://RibbonsofHighway.blogspot.com .)

Before September 11, I'd been a globetrotter for over 25 years, and I'd seen a fair chunk of the planet. I've always loved to travel solo, but after I married and had kids, my family -- husband, Mike and kids, Adam and Dana -- became my favorite travel companions. My kids have been traveling the world since they were babies.

After the terrorist attacks, I realized I'd never really explored my own country. I'd seen large bits of it on business and pleasure trips, but I'd never considered it as a whole, as a giant quilt made of pieces sewn together into a single creation, as a nation that, taken in total, was more than the sum of its many parts. I felt a compelling need to get out into the country and make sure that it was alright, that its people were alright, that it could and would withstand such a fearsome assault and still remain strong and whole.

So, I packed up my kids, and we set out on a 12,000-mile back road journey through the heart of America. We spent the summer after 9/11 visiting every corner of the country and meeting people who welcomed us into their communities. What we discovered about America and its people amazed and heartened us. As we traveled, we also learned a lot about ourselves and the love that binds us to one another. My son, Adam, was 13 at the time and my daughter, Dana, 10.

"Ribbons of Highway" is the book that grew from our journey, and I look forward to talking with you about it over the next four weeks. I also look forward to talking about travel in general --family travel, solo travel, trip planning, great destinations both in America and abroad, women traveling -- any topic you'd like to explore.

Cheers,

Lori

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Lori Hein
author, "Ribbons of Highway: A Mother-Child Journey Across America"
www.LoriHein.com
world travel blog: http://RibbonsofHighway.blogspot.com

[ May 01, 2005, 11:29 AM: Message edited by: Dotsie ]