Lunch With the Traveler’s Friend
One of the most fun parts of this work is meeting with writers. I can’t think of anything more important than finding, cultivating, and continuing to motivate the best writers in New England. The writer and editor relationship, when it works, is not unlike a friendship — you count on each other to bring out […]
One of the most fun parts of this work is meeting with writers. I can’t think of anything more important than finding, cultivating, and continuing to motivate the best writers in New England. The writer and editor relationship, when it works, is not unlike a friendship — you count on each other to bring out the best of each of you. Let me give you an example.
One recent Friday I had lunch in Peterborough with one of my favorite writers. Her name is Christina Tree, and if you are a wise New England traveler you probably have her books tucked away in your shelves, ready to be read before your next sojourn. Her Explorer’s Guides to the New England states are the standard by which I judge all New England guide books. She’s been crisscrossing our region (and many regions of the world) for nearly 40 years. Think of that. Think of the tens of thousands of miles, the tens of thousands of meals, of nights spent in B&Bs, country inns, swanky hotels, rustic cottages — all in the pursuit of learning all she can so her readers can follow confidently in her footsteps. And this is what amazes me each time I talk with Chris: Her enthusiasm has never wavered.
She drove the 80 miles from Boston to talk with me about a few projects we have percolating. She has been a stalwart contributor to Yankee over my many years here, and somehow her ideas are always fresh. I think I know the region like the back of my hand, and then Chris tells me about places I never knew about. When travel writing seems to have no purpose except to point you to a restaurant and then to a bed, it may be useful, but it is not inspired. What Chris does foremost is inspire her readers about a place, the below-the-surface nature of the place and its people — and then she takes you by the hand and introduces you to the best food, lodgings, and attractions. She understands better than most that we travel first to a place; a place is always at the heart of travel. If you had seen us at the restaurant, you would have seen two people both writing furiously and smiling as we tossed ideas back and forth, all the while Chris’s seafood pie cooling because she was just too excited telling me about yet another wonder I should have known about but did not.
You’ll see the results of Chris’s cold lunch in this upcoming July/August issue, and then once again a few months later. I guarantee you’ll want to pack the car and follow her.
Mel Allen is editor of Yankee Magazine and author ofA Coach’s Letter to His Son.
Mel Allen
Mel Allen is the fifth editor of Yankee Magazine since its beginning in 1935. His first byline in Yankee appeared in 1977 and he joined the staff in 1979 as a senior editor. Eventually he became executive editor and in the summer of 2006 became editor. During his career he has edited and written for every section of the magazine, including home, food, and travel, while his pursuit of long form story telling has always been vital to his mission as well. He has raced a sled dog team, crawled into the dens of black bears, fished with the legendary Ted Williams, profiled astronaut Alan Shephard, and stood beneath a battleship before it was launched. He also once helped author Stephen King round up his pigs for market, but that story is for another day. Mel taught fourth grade in Maine for three years and believes that his education as a writer began when he had to hold the attention of 29 children through months of Maine winters. He learned you had to grab their attention and hold it. After 12 years teaching magazine writing at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, he now teaches in the MFA creative nonfiction program at Bay Path University in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Like all editors, his greatest joy is finding new talent and bringing their work to light.
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