R.I.P. Lynn Ferrin

Wed, 10/26/2011 - 14:19 — Anonymous The travel writer and long-time editor
of the AAA magazine for Northern California died recently at 73. Over at
Gadling, Don George has a lovely tribute to his friend and colleague, and to
the power of great travel writing: [Lynn] infused her pieces with the wonder
that was at the core of her life's journey, with the big-heartedness,
big-mindedness and sense of limitlessness that graced her days—and that
graced all of us who knew her. She brought these gifts to her writing, she
dared to reach far and dream big in her stories—she dared to write about
the meaning of life. And because she did so, she touched all of us in big,
and deep, ways. This is what we all need to do as travel writers, I think
now. We need to dream big, think big, fling out filaments that tie our
travels to a wider perspective. Our work matters only as much as we make it
matter, and we need to write pieces that matter. We need to honor ourselves
and our readers in this way. We need to honor the act of writing and the act
of connecting—connecting with the world when we travel, and connecting with
our readers when we write. In the same way that we look for the interlocking
pieces of the whole, we also need to be those pieces—we need to interlock,
article to article, reader to reader, becoming a part of the vast puzzle we
seek to understand and replicate. It's a high and daunting calling—and
thank god for that. Why waste our days aiming low and taking no chances?
World Hum