More About the New Book.

When dealing with Amazon, I can’t shake the feeling that there are no human beings at the other end of whatever communication is going on.

Well, it’s the same—maybe even worse—with Kindle, the entity that handles Amazon’s in-house publishing business.

The Kindle computer informed me this morning that they are now accepting orders for the paperback version of my new book, Travel Tales. Should you wish to buy an honest-to-God book, as opposed to the Kindle version, click here for the link that will take you there. 

Most of this book, as the title implies, is about many of my travels—both the destinations and the getting there, usually by train. But there are a number of non-travel stories in this book that I think you will find interesting and amusing.

For instance, there was the time I applied for a job with the Oakland A’s and had a memorable phone conversation with the team’s owner, Charlie Finley.

And then there was the brief, but illuminating 20-minutes I spent with Ray Kroc, founder of the McDonald’s hamburger chain. That’s in the book, too.

The photo we chose for the book’s cover was taken from a front row seat in the dome on the last car on VIA Rail’s train #1, the Canadian. We were en route from Toronto to Vancouver and this was our first on board look at the imposing Canadian Rockies, still 20 or 25 miles up ahead. There’s quite a lot in the book about this particular train, and no wonder.  I have made the Toronto-Vancouver trip nine or ten times and am looking forward to doing it again. After all, I can always use more material to write about !