For Immediate Release: April 3, 2006

Lonely Planet Travel Writer Series Starts April 19

( Oakland, CA) Learn the ins and outs of foreign travel from the people who write the guidebooks. Oakland Public Library and the Oakland-based travel publisher Lonely Planet invite the public to a series of free talks with five published travel writers who will share their experiences and answer questions starting Wednesday, April 19, 2006. All talks will take place from 6 to 7:30 pm at the Art/Music/History/Literature Department on the first floor of the Main Library, 125 14th Street. See below for the dates, author names, and topics:

Travel in Bolivia and Other South American Countries : Wednesday, April 19

Greg Benchwick’s South American travels started in 1990 when he took a chicken bus from Costa Rica to Guatemala in search of a “rip-roaring good time, and just a little bit of introspection and cultural exploration.” Greg has written extensively about travel and culture for papers like The Bolivian Times and SanJose Mercury News, and has contributed to over a dozen guide books. He’s also lived for extended periods in Bolivia and Spain.

Travel in Thailand: Wednesday, April 26

Morgan Konn got her first passport ten years ago and has since traveled to five continents including Antarctica. Food and art are her favored doorways into a new culture, but making mistakes, getting lost or otherwise embarrassed is almost always how she connects with the locals. She rarely leaves home without a camera, and is currently teaching photography at San Jose State. Morgan has contributed to Lonely Planet's Mexico, South America, Bolivia and Thailand books.

Women Solo Travel: Wednesday, May 3

Heather Dickson and Emily Wolman know how to handle everything from being chased by angry Spanish dogs to traveling internationally on a shoestring. Dickson is a senior commissioning editor at Lonely Planet who has sent authors searching for underground flamenco haunts in Madrid, cafés in New Mexico, and the best white-sand beaches in the Caribbean. Wolman, a commissioning editor at LP and a savvy budget traveler, has contributed to Lonely Planet’s “shoestring travel” titles for South America, USA, and Canada.

Travel in Mexico: Wednesday, May 10

Andrew Dean Nystrom is a photographer, syndicated columnist, and travel planning consultant specializing in adventure travel and ecotourism in Latin America and western North America. He has contributed to a dozen guidebooks including Lonely Planet’s Bolivia, South America on a Shoestring, and Mexico. His reports of South America’s surreal landscapes have appeared in The DallasMorning News, Denver Post, Houston Chronicle, Miami Herald, The Oregonian, San Francisco Chronicle and Yahoo! Travel.

Books will be for sale at each talk, and Lonely Planet staff will be on hand with information about the passport application process, new guidebooks, and Lonely Planet’s campaign to make September “National Passport Month.” For more information, call (510) 238-3136, or see the Library's Web site: www.oaklandlibrary.org. Please refrain from wearing scented products. To request sign interpretation, or other accommodation, call the number above or (510) 834-7446 (TTY) at least five working days prior to the event. The Oakland Public Library is a department of the City of Oakland.

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Author Headshots Available by Request