FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information contact:
Tom Smith
Odyssey Communications
541 Laren Road
Victoria, BC V9C 2S4
Canada
Phone: 250-383-2017
Fax: 250-383-3061
E-mail: tom@melawend.com
URL: http://www.melawend.com
PRESS ROOM: http://www.melawend.com/pressroo.htm
A
"HOPEFUL" WORLD ODYSSEY - THE ADVENTURES OF
A SCOOTER-RIDING OPTIMIST
How a Shy Former Law Clerk Became
"The Scooter Crusader"
Victoria, BC, Canada - Some people fantasize about doing
it. Others cringe with trepidation. Most of us simply can't or won't do it for one reason
or another. But former law-clerk-turned-writer and photographer Thomas Martin Smith made a
rigorous terrestrial journey around world. He did it solo, on a motorscooter he named Melawend
(for his daughters, Melanie and Wendy). A journey planned to take one year took him two.
The book about the journey took him another 12 years to write. Available
now is the "First Print Edition" - limited to 500 copies or less, pending
production of a mass-market edition.
IN THE
LONG RUN: A Hopeful World Odyssey
A resident of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Tom
considers himself an everyday kind of guy – not a globe-trotting adventurer. But this
somewhat shy, easy-going guy, who had never ridden a motorcycle or motorscooter, became a
veritable Indiana Jones on two wheels. In his large-format 597-page book - IN THE LONG RUN: A Hopeful World Odyssey - Tom takes us on his adventures, "lessons of life" as
he calls them, including:
- surviving three crashes, injuries and dysentery;
- feeling the terror in Paris during "the September
Bombings";
- shaking hands with Pope John Paul at the Vatican;
- resolving a confrontation with an Arab along the Nile;
- learning from romantic interludes and troubles in the
Sinai;
- meeting big game conservationists and being kissed by a
lion in Kenya;
- being taken downtown by the secret police in Nairobi;
- surviving a blistering but fascinating passage through
India;
- coming to grips with life in Nepal;
- discovering a treasure in the South China Sea;
- overcoming "the Wizard of Oz syndrome" in the
corporate and media worlds of Tokyo;
- exploring island life while "marooned" for four
months in Hawaii;
- relishing the home run "across the living breadth of
America"; and
- being welcomed "almost like an ambassador" at
the UN in New York.
Tom Smith - a scooter-riding Tolkien?
After reading the first chapter, a British expat, posting
in an MSNBC Travel Forum, found Tom's story "...more than a little reminiscent of The
Lord of the Rings."
Dennis Latzy, a water treatment operator and motorcycle
enthusiast from Cool, California, had this to say:
"Tom - I received your book in the mail 4 days ago.
I have just one problem with the book..........I can't put it down! You did a super job on
the journey and writing the book." E-mailed update: "I just now finished reading
your book. The last week has been eat, sleep, read the book.... " Later, Latzy said:
"You have got me dusting off your book and reading it for the second time around.
(Something I never do with books.) ...I think your book blows the doors off
Ted Simon, Doc Frasier and the rest of them. Yes, I have read them. While I think that
what Simon and Frasier did is fantastic, your writing stands head and shoulders above
theirs. Your writing really puts me in the saddle with you....I think your book would be a
smash hit if the word ever got out."
Because of their portrayals of life, literature and
movies play a big role throughout the story, Tom said. This includes topical references to
the lives and works of many luminaries, among them: Mark Twain, V.S. Naipaul, Isak
Dinesen, Charlton Heston, Stefanie Powers, Barbra Streisand and Steven Spielberg. He drew
his own perspectives on some cinematic and literary haunts, including Isak Dinesen's Out
of Africa home. For a month, he explored Hollywood. While getting gas for Melawend,
he met actor Peter Strauss.
He also met Douglas Kirkland at his home in
Hollywood. Kirkland has long been one the world's most sought-after photographers of
celebrities, movies, fashion and fine arts. He has worked on the sets of over 100
movies including The Sound of Music, Romancing the Stone, Out of
Africa, Showgirls, Titanic and Moulin Rouge.
Of Tom's book, Kirkland said: "… last night I
had a chance to start reading In The Long Run and it's really exciting! Thinking
about it after starting it (plus jumping ahead to see a few previews) the words 'He's A
Modern Marco Polo' came to mind. That's really what you represent…. I want to get
back on it as soon as possible... "
In the company of Hemingway
Tom said he even had the company of a famous writer...
albeit a dead one.
"Ernest Hemingway was, in true way, a recurrent
travelling companion and mentor on the journey," he said. "I took with me on the
journey a thesaurus, a dictionary and By-Line: Ernest Hemingway - Selected Articles
and Dispatches of Four Decades. I gained inspiration and guidance from
Hemingway. As a writer, I often turn to the lives and works of dead literary giants
in the hope that one of them might reach through the veil, grab me by the forehead and
bestow upon me the gift of literacy!"
Though it might seem his book would appeal primarily to
men, Tom said many buyers of the book have been women.
Jo-Ann Owen, a Program Assistant at Simon Fraser
University, Vancouver, British Columbia, wrote: "I love your book Tom.
There are no other words to describe it - it is full of wonders - inspiration -
spirituality - history and so much more.Your odyssey has taken me on a journey of the
spirit. You took one step further - you believed in your capacity and your dreams, and you
drove through with determination and confidence toward your journey of life.....Your words
have painted a canvas of the world for me, describing people, cities, and things.....I
feel your emotions - fear, stumblings, pain, ecstasy, fantasy, luck, discoveries and
amazements......Thank you Tom, you've taken me back home again...and to follow your
dreams, take a chance, and never give up."
If not for the adventure of a lifetime, then why?
Tom said that he'd had enough of having a remote control
that let him shut out the world at will. He said he wanted to get out of himself and
"to get out there and seek out common bonds between people and promote some
international goodwill." With the help of some sponsors, including Minolta, Honda and
Kodak, he became an unofficial "ambassador in blue jeans". He met with
officials, from municipal to national levels. He was welcomed at the UN in New York with a
press conference and a VIP tour. Throughout the journey, he dealt with people "on
their own ground" including governors, generals, ambassadors, mayors, business
people, beggars, cops, cons, hookers, humanitarians, wildlife conservationists, a baroness
and everyday people. As for adventure, Tom said that he found people; adventure found him.
He said the journey left him even more optimistic about the future of the world.
There's also personal romance in the story as one of the
subplots is Tom's quest for his soulmate, detailed in his encounters with girls and his
periods of loneliness. Into the story, he weaves things he learned about relationships.
More important, Tom said, was that through ordeals,
efforts, failures and successes - his own and others' - he learned a lot about himself and
other people and about the human spirit.
Why a "hopeful" world odyssey?
"Hope, by itself, is not a course for action, but it
is a necessary first step," Tom said. "Hope is something you discover when you
travel. Too often when people travel, they merely go sightseeing and shopping. But
whenever you truly travel, whether it's terrestrial or in your mind, you explore.
You make outward and inward discoveries. With them, you see new possibilities in the world
and in yourself – hopeful things that let you visualize opportunities upon
which you can develop plans and take action... make improvements in your life and in life
around you."
"With all the love and heroism that continues to
rise up from the tragedies of September 11, 2001," Tom said, " it's evident
there is a great deal of hope in and for the world."
For more information about Tom and the book, visit his
website at http://www.melawend.com
Photo for use with this story - open, then just right click to save.
For more information contact:
Tom Smith
Odyssey Communications
541 Laren Road
Victoria, BC V9C 2S4
Canada
Phone: 250-383-2017
Fax: 250-383-3061
E-mail: tom@melawend.com
URL: http://www.melawend.com
PRESS ROOM: http://www.melawend.com/pressroo.htm
****************************************************************************
Genre: Travel / Travelogue / /Memoir / Self-help /
Mid-life / Writing / Photography / Motorcycling
ISBN: 0-9685813-0-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-9685813-0-8
Publisher: Odyssey Communications, 541 Laren Road, Victoria, BC,
Canada V9C2S4
Length: 460,000 words, 597 two-column pages
Size: 8 ½" x 11"
Binding: Cerlox with clear front cover and linen back cover
Available: via website http://www.melawend.com
Cost: US$69.95 + taxes, s&h
Bonus: The 42-image Slide Show on Diskette (ISBN: 0-9685813-3-1)
NOTE: This is the First Print Edition – limited to 500
copies. Hardcover and paperback editions are planned.
Copyright registration: Canadian Intellectual Property Office -
Certificate of Registration No.1050667
Copyright © 1984 - 2007 by Thomas Martin Smith. All rights are reserved.
****************************************************************************
IN THE NEWS:
An interview of author Thomas Martin Smith by Gary Sorkin is featured on the website of
BOOMERS INTERNATIONAL (based in Silicon Valley, California, USA) http://boomersint.org/tomsmith.htm
HONDA UK newsletter: http://www.melawend.com/hondauk.htm
LOOKOUT (weekly newspaper serving Canada's Maritime Forces
Pacific) http://www.melawend.com/lookout.htm
SCOOTER RIDER MAGAZINE - Summer 2003 - (based in Florida, USA)
An excerpt from the book, edited by BJ Strass. http://www.scooterridermag.com
Other articles written by Tom or about him and his journey: http://www.melawend.com/tom's.htm
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