For two years, Michael Shapiro roamed the world interviewing
leading travel writers where they live. He met Jan Morris in
Wales, Tim Cahill in Montana, Frances Mayes in Tuscany, and Peter
Matthiessen at the east end of Long Island. He caught up with
Pico Iyer in California and met Bill Bryson in New Hampshire just
before Bryson moved back to England. The result is “A Sense of
Place: Great Travel Writers Talk About Their Craft, Lives and
Inspiration,” a fascinating collection of conversations ranging
from how travel has deepened each writer’s understanding of the
world to how these authors  developed the skills and discipline
to succeed as writers. Shapiro also interviewed Paul Theroux,
Isabel Allende, Simon Winchester, Arthur Frommer, Redmond
O’Hanlon, Jonathan Raban, Rick Steves, and others.
 

Michael Shapiro has biked through Cuba for the Washington Post,
celebrated Holy Week in Guatemala for the Dallas Morning News,
and floated down the Mekong  River on a Laotian cargo barge for
an online travel magazine. His work also appears in the Los
Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and several national
magazines. He has been researching online travel since 1994, when
he joined an early Net directory called Global Network Navigator.
His first book on Net-travel topics appeared in 1997 –
subsequent editions appeared in 2000 and 2002.  Shapiro spent a
year working for CNET, an online tech-news site, before embarking
on a freelance career.
 

Shapiro won a 1998 Lowell Thomas award from the Society of
American Travel  Writers in the category of “Travel News /
Investigative Reporting” for a story on frequent flier programs.
He has appeared on national television networks, including CNN
and PBS, as well as on radio shows ranging KGO’s On the Go to
listener-sponsored KPFA. He lives in Sonoma County with his wife
and cat, spending  his free time cycling, river rafting, sea
kayaking and rooting for the Giants at  San Francisco’s beautiful
ballpark by the Bay.