Pat's Special Interests

Special Interests

Pat's UA HOME

** My better half tops the list. See his books and tweets at palwrite.com. His dinner theatre play written with Marilyn McNally Murder at Blackheath Manor has been presented to rave reviews by Oakmont Elks in Pittsburgh several times.

Reading

Travelling

Edmonton's sensational river valley including this lovely lake in a park near our apartment complex with its 'Diversions' (amenities)" complex.

(click photos to enlarge)

	Buddhism - a Concise Introduction About Huston Smith Review
	Coming To Our Senses About Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn Coming to our senses (talk at Univ. Cal. at San Diego)
	Living in the Light of Death: On the Art of Being Truly Alive About Larry Rosenberg Reviews (scroll to bottom for reader reviews)

Reading

Favorite genre is mystery, especially novels with foreign locales. If you love both mysteries and travel, consider these authors (typical locales):

Austria & Germany

John Brady (Inspektor Felix Kimmel in Styria, southern Austria)
Philip Kerr (ex-cop Bernie Gunther series: Berlin Noir trilogy & The One from the Other )

England & Germany

John Le Carre (George Smiley - my favorite character of all time) | Which is his best novel?
Len Deighton (Bernard Samson series in London and Berlin)
Robert Harris - WWII novels (Fatherland and Enigma)
Christopher Hyde - including A Gathering of Saints set in WWII

England

Stephen Booth (Detectives Ben Cooper and Diane Fry series in the Peak District)
Elizabeth George (Inspector Thomas Lynley series, with Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers)
P.D. James (Commander Adam Dalgliesh series)
Ruth Rendall (Chief Inspector Reginald Wexford series)
Peter Robinson (Inspector Banks series in Yorkshire)

France

Fred Vargas (Superintendent Adamsberg series) (wikipedia entry)

Ireland

John Brady (Matt Minogue series)

Italy

Andrea Camilleri (Inspector Salvo Montalbano series in Sicily) Also see Camilleri
Gianrico Carofiglio (Lawyer Guido Guerrieri series in Bari)
Michael Dibdin (Inspector Aurelio Zen - all over Italy) Dibdin's obituary (4 Apr. 2007)
David Hewson (Detective Nic Costa series in Rome) Also see Hewson
Donna Leon (Commisario Guido Brunetti series in Venice) Also see Leon
Magdalen Nabb (Marshall Guarnaccia series in Florence) Also see Nabb & Nabb's obituary (27 Aug. 2007)

Norway

Karin Fossum (Inspecter Sejer series)

Scotland

Ian Rankin (Inspector John Rebus series in Edinburgh)

Spain

Robert Wilson (Javier Falcón series) | Interview: Harcourt Publishers

Sweden

Stieg Larsson (Millennium novels with Lisbeth Salander, Mikael Blomkvist)
Åke Edwardson (Eric Winter series in Göteborg)
Liza Marklund (Annika Bengtzon series in Stockholm)
Henning Mankell (Inspector Kurt Wallander series in Ystad)
- Henning Mankell's "Wallendar" comes to BBC TV
- Wallander - BBC interviews with Branagh & Mankell
Håkan Nesser (Inspector Van Veeteren series)

Turkey

Barbara Nadel (Inspector Cetin Ikmen series in Istanbul) Also see Wiki entry

USA

Julia Spencer-Fleming (Clare Fergusson & Russ Van Alstyne series)

In many of these books the locale is as much a character as the people.

In a different vein, I also love John Mortimer's series about Rumpole of the Bailey. Always bring a chuckle, including the TV show sometimes seen in reruns. His obituary. Another obituary.

Travelling

A few travel photos
Places I've visited so far -->
(details below)
create your own visited country map

Places visited include

Ocean travels Crossed Atlantic Ocean by ship (Montreal to Southampton) Panama Canal crossing from Pacific to Atlantic (Vancouver to Fort Lauderdale) Hawaii (Across Pacific, roundtrip, Vancouver to Vancouver, with stops at 4 islands) Caribbean Ocean cruise Sun, sand, & surf Hawaii (cruise + 4 land stays) Hawaii Kauai (+2 land stays) Oahu (+1 land stay) Maui (+1 land stay) Jamaica (6 mth stay) Kingston Lime Cay Ocho Rios Port Royal Spanish Town Martinique (3 wk stay) St. John & St. Thomas (U.S. Virgin Islands) St. Maartens (Netherlands Antilles) Latin America Mexico Acapulco Cabo San Lucas Huatulco Manzanillo Puerto Chiapas Puerto Vallarta Columbia (Cartegena) Costa Rica Panama Down Under New Zealand (6 wk stay) Auckland Hamilton Napier Paihia / Russell Palmerston North Rotorua Wellington Cook Islands	Europe (4 mth road trip + many separate multi-wk stays) Austria Graz Linz Vienna Belgium (Brussels, Waterloo) England (4 multi-wk stays) Bath Bournemouth Folkestone London Portsmouth Rye Salisbury Solihull Southampton Windsor Isle of Wight [Cowes, Ryde, Newport, Sandown, Ventnor] France Aix-en-Provence Cannes Nice Perpignan Italy Brindisi Florence Naples Pisa Stresa Rome [Vatican City] Monaco Netherlands Amsterdam Edam Hoek van Holland Rotterdam Norway (Oslo) Germany Berlin (2 times) Cologne Dachau Dusseldorf Frankfurt Garmisch-Partenkirchen Heidelberg Koblenz Munich Stuttgart Spain (2 times) Alicante Barcelona Benidorm Malaga Marbella Torremolinos Valencia Switzerland (4 wk stay) Ascona Basel Locarno Lucerne Lugano Zermatt Zurich Yugoslavia Drove entire Dalmatian Coast along Adriatic Sea from Austria to Greece through what are now Slovenia Croatia Serbia & Montengro Macedonia Saw cities such as Split, Dubrovnik, Skopje, and Pec, with its ethnic Albanian majority in the province of Kosovo (destroyed in 1999 by Serbian troops)	Middle East & Environs Algeria (Algiers, Constantine) Cyprus (Nicosia) Egypt (Cairo) Greece Athens Kavala Larissa Thessaloniki (Salonika) Israel Beersheba (Negev desert) Dead Sea Eilat (Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea) Haifa Jerusalem Tel Aviv Jordan (Jerusalem) Saudi Arabia (Dhahran - on Persian Gulf) Turkey (Istanbul) USA Carmel, CA Chicago, IL Fort Lauderdale, FL Grand Forks (ND) Hawaii (4 islands cruise + 4 land stays) Key West, FL Los Angeles, CA Miami, FL Monterey, CA Oklahoma City, OK Sacramento, CA San Francisco, CA Seattle, WA
Canada (& all places in between)
BC Kelowna Merritt Vancouver Victoria White Rock Alberta Banff Calgary Canmore Edmonton Jasper Kananaskis Lethbridge Medicine Hat Red Deer Wetaskiwin	Saskatchewan Regina Saskatoon Manitoba Baldur Brandon Clandeboye Fisher Branch Flin Flon Petersfield Portage La Prairie Selkirk Winnipeg Winnipeg Beach	Nova Scotia Halifax Ontario Balmertown Dryden Hamilton Kenora London Niagara Falls Ottawa Red Lake Toronto Quebec Dorval Hull Montreal Quebec City

Ocean travels

Crossed Atlantic Ocean by ship (Montreal to Southampton)
Panama Canal crossing from Pacific to Atlantic (Vancouver to Fort Lauderdale)
Hawaii (Across Pacific, roundtrip, Vancouver to Vancouver, with stops at 4 islands)
Caribbean Ocean cruise

Sun, sand, & surf

Hawaii (cruise + 4 land stays)

Hawaii
Kauai (+2 land stays)
Oahu (+1 land stay)
Maui (+1 land stay)

Jamaica (6 mth stay)

Kingston
Lime Cay
Ocho Rios
Port Royal
Spanish Town

Martinique (3 wk stay)

St. John & St. Thomas (U.S. Virgin Islands)

St. Maartens (Netherlands Antilles)

Latin America

Mexico

Acapulco
Cabo San Lucas
Huatulco
Manzanillo
Puerto Chiapas
Puerto Vallarta

Columbia (Cartegena)

Costa Rica

Panama

Down Under

New Zealand (6 wk stay)

Auckland
Hamilton
Napier
Paihia / Russell
Palmerston North
Rotorua
Wellington

Cook Islands

Europe (4 mth road trip + many separate multi-wk stays)

Austria

Graz
Linz
Vienna

Belgium (Brussels, Waterloo)

England (4 multi-wk stays)

Bath
Bournemouth
Folkestone
London
Portsmouth
Rye
Salisbury
Solihull
Southampton
Windsor
Isle of Wight [Cowes, Ryde, Newport, Sandown, Ventnor]

France

Aix-en-Provence
Cannes
Nice
Perpignan

Italy

Brindisi
Florence
Naples
Pisa
Stresa
Rome
[Vatican City]

Monaco

Netherlands

Amsterdam
Edam
Hoek van Holland
Rotterdam

Norway (Oslo)

Germany

Berlin (2 times)
Cologne
Dachau
Dusseldorf
Frankfurt
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Heidelberg
Koblenz
Munich
Stuttgart

Spain (2 times)

Alicante
Barcelona
Benidorm
Malaga
Marbella
Torremolinos
Valencia

Switzerland (4 wk stay)

Ascona
Basel
Locarno
Lucerne
Lugano
Zermatt
Zurich

Yugoslavia Drove entire Dalmatian Coast along Adriatic Sea from Austria to Greece through what are now

Slovenia
Croatia
Serbia & Montengro
Macedonia
Saw cities such as Split, Dubrovnik, Skopje, and Pec, with its ethnic Albanian majority in the province of Kosovo (destroyed in 1999 by Serbian troops)

Middle East & Environs

Algeria (Algiers, Constantine)

Cyprus (Nicosia)

Egypt (Cairo)

Greece

Athens
Kavala
Larissa
Thessaloniki (Salonika)

Israel

Beersheba (Negev desert)
Dead Sea
Eilat (Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea)
Haifa
Jerusalem
Tel Aviv

Jordan (Jerusalem)

Saudi Arabia (Dhahran - on Persian Gulf)

Turkey (Istanbul)

USA

Carmel, CA

Chicago, IL

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Grand Forks (ND)

Hawaii (4 islands cruise + 4 land stays)

Key West, FL

Los Angeles, CA

Miami, FL

Monterey, CA

Oklahoma City, OK

Sacramento, CA

San Francisco, CA

Seattle, WA

Canada (& all places in between)

Kelowna

Merritt

Vancouver

Victoria

White Rock

Alberta

Banff

Calgary

Canmore

Edmonton

Jasper

Kananaskis

Lethbridge

Medicine Hat

Red Deer

Wetaskiwin

Saskatchewan

Regina

Saskatoon

Manitoba

Baldur

Brandon

Clandeboye

Fisher Branch

Flin Flon

Petersfield

Portage La Prairie

Selkirk

Winnipeg

Winnipeg Beach

Nova Scotia

Halifax

Ontario

Balmertown

Dryden

Hamilton

Kenora

London

Niagara Falls

Ottawa

Red Lake

Toronto

Quebec

Dorval

Hull

Montreal

Quebec City

Back | Top | Pat's UA HOME