Whew! Hard to keep up with Tom Wilmer, but here’s the latest from this prolific member: Tom’s NPR affiliate is in partnership with Sunset magazine for the upcoming Sunset Savor the Central Coast event this fall. “Sunset targeted 10 podcast shows for me to produce about the event, including three...

According to reviewer Don George, Mary Jo McConahay writes beautifully, with intelligence and heart, about both the region and the people in her new book, Maya Roads, the National Geographic Traveler Book of the Month for August 2011. (http://ttftr.com/ofSCiw)  

April Orcutt’s essay about meeting an Omani band in Zanzibar ran in the San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday, August 28th.  Here’s the lead: “What have we done?” my husband, Michael, moaned. We had arrived penniless, hungry and late on a hot Sunday evening in Zanzibar, a Third World island...

Here’s a post to Dick Jordan’s blog in which he describes the “iSaidWhat?!” iPhone app, which can be used to record your thoughts, interviews, or any other sounds, and then cut into pieces and assembled into an single audio file. This looks like a good tool for field work and podcasting:...

Elisa Southard’s story, “Playtime Unleashed at Point Isabel,” was published in arkandtent.com. It focuses on the nation’s largest off-leash dog park, and how it helps canines and their companions unwind.

Cycling is in Karen Kefauver’s genes—or at least her plans. She recently published “Great Cities for Cycling” with MSN and is headed to China for a three-week bicycle trip with Imagine Tours, which she’ll chronicle through words and photos. She welcomes tips for her first trip to China...

Susan Cohn, senior correspondent-events for The San Mateo Daily Journal, recently published “Santa Cruz Sojourn” in her Susan’s Travels Tours + Trips column.      

Diane LeBow‘s Afghan photos will be on exhibit at 
the 2nd annual Afghan Arts and Culture Festival at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, September 4 (Labor Day Weekend): http://www. afghaneducation.org/festival- 2011.html.  

Mandarin Oriental Silks restaurant The August BATW meeting starring renowned travel writer and editor Don George took place in the Mandarin Oriental hotel’s lovely Silks restaurant. The topic of Don’s pre-lunch speech was “The Brave New Worlds of Travel Writing and Publishing.” Don George is...

Mandarin Oriental Bridge to Bridge Suite Click below to see Tom Wilmer’s Mandarin Oriental San Francisco audio/video slideshow. The audio track is from his NPR affiliates interview with Cliff Atkinson, the hotel’s general manager. Along with images supplied by the Mandarin are a few of Tom’s own...