Memoir

In the eighth decade of my life and after having three books traditionally published-a travel memoir 50 years ago and two novels more recently-I am pondering the wisdom of writing a very personal memoir.

Having grown up with the old Foyles as my playground I have always loved books, and having spent much of my childhood in a boarding school where the weekly routine included the obligatory letter home, and my young adult life working overseas in the days before international telephone services were affordable, writing has always been part of my life.

A visit to the burial place of her uncle was to set Elsbeth Lindner on an investigations of her Jewish family's history

When I mentioned to friends and colleagues that I was thinking of writing a memoir focused on my mother, they looked quizzical. Why would I bother switching genres after so many years writing successful fiction?

When I dipped my bicycle tires into the Atlantic Ocean in Yorktown, Virginia, in early November 2000, my yelp for joy was followed by a lengthy sigh.

At last, I had finished my absolutely-must-do, solo, cross-country trek of 4,250 miles. Completion liberated me to focus solely on conservation and energy articles for newspapers, magazines and online publications. Or, so I thought.  Read more