From Stone Mountain, GA

I had never heard of Stone Mountain, GA before we started planning this trip, but it was a place Mark wanted to see.  It just so happened that I have another friend I had never met before who lives on the opposite side of Atlanta and he and his wife were free to meet us tonight.  Here are today’s pictures: Continue reading

Creative outlets

I had several suggestions from Judy (the president of my Wisconsin fan club) and Cherie yesterday, so since Mark and I had this afternoon off we endeavored to check them out.  In the process, I also did some initial research on a suggestion many of you have made. Continue reading

Guest blog: John Glionna

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while may remember how upset I was about a year ago when a reporter from Harpers classified Workampers as senior citizens who have to work to survive and get taken advantage of by their employers.  Another reporter compared Workampers to the Joad family from Grapes of Wrath or to Woody Guthrie.  A rash of reporters began contacting Workamper News asking for people to interview so I offered to be one of those people.  Several months ago I was contacted by John Glionna of the LA Times who, at the time, was looking for a modern migrant worker-type story and I told him if he wanted to interview me he had to tell the story like it is.  He agreed to interview Mark and I and two other Workampers and do our stories justice, so this weekend he and a photographer from the LA Times, Francine Orr, are here following us around and asking us all sorts of questions about our lifestyle.  I believe he’ll write a good story. I’ve asked him to do a guest blog: telling a little about himself, explaining his story idea and what he’s hoping to get out of this.  I’ll let you know when his story is published so that you can find a copy of the LA Times and read it if you so desire. And now, without further ado, here’s John… Continue reading

Grapes of Wrath

Several weeks ago Mark and I woke up to an NPR interview with a reporter from Harper’s.  The reporter had written an article about Workampers where she described us as elderly people who couldn’t afford to retire.  She told about a woman she interviewed who sounded suicidal because she was so depressed about having to live in her RV and travel around looking for work.  I commented on NPR’s web site asking where the reporter’s sense of adventure was. Continue reading

Guest blog: John Greaves III

One of my authors, John Greaves III, offered to do a guest blog for me while I am recovering.  (Thank you, John!)  He asked that I also include links to the Amazon sales pages for his two published books, which I am glad to do to support him in his efforts.  The first book is A Little Lesson in Manners and the second is A Different Kind of Giant.  His topic for this blog is how he found an illustrator for his book cover, and I am including his illustrator’s web link in my list of useful links in the sidebar of my page for anyone who might be interested. Continue reading

Guest blog by John Greaves III

I knew this would be a busy day, so I asked my most recent published author to write about his experience.  John first had me edit a full length book about his characters, Zac and Mya, but then he sent me a short story aimed at introducing his characters ahead of the book.  He has just gotten his short story, Pit Stop, published.  I’m turning it over to John Greaves III from here: Continue reading