What do Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandella, and ThreeOlBags have in common? They each received a visit from Steve Zikman, co-author of Chicken Soup for the Traveler’s Soul. Zikman is a world traveler who has been to more than fifty countries on six continents. The Washington Post defines him as “the man who wrote the book on wanderlust”.
Garden City residents Sandra Campbell, Sharon Hegwood, and Linda Sparkman are three friends who collaborate on writing travel articles under the pen name ThreeOlBags. That’s because four times a year they pack their ol’ bags and hit the road to visit, photograph, and write travel articles about places of interest in our Great Lake State and beyond!
Recently Campbell received an email from Zikman regarding his plan to tour America this summer for the Chicken Soup series. He was looking for local invitations, to get a candid glimpse of life in America coast to coast.
Campbell introduced Zikman to ThreeOlBags in an e-mail response and promised him her Italian lasagna, Hegwood’s secret family recipe Swedish Rye bread and Sparkman’s home-made apple strudel, if he chose to visit Garden City. How could he resist? ThreeOlBags were pleasantly surprised when Zikman wrote back to say the tour would be in the Detroit area on Memorial Day, and he wanted to meet them
Zikman left New York City on May 4th for the cross-country tour. His plan is to visit 23 states, finishing up in Santa Monica, California this August.
The Chicken Soup tour is an effort to celebrate the joys of travel and encourage Americans to explore our great land. In addition, Zikman is promoting CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE TRAVELER’S SOUL with book signings and press releases across the country.
Zikman is traveling with Tony and Cathy Cirocco, full-time RV’ers who are part of the promotional tour. The couple transports a supply of CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE TRAVELER’S SOUL books, organizes book signing displays, maintains a web page dedicated to the tour and provides Zikman with support and camaraderie.
Tony drives the 37 foot Coachman RV with a big yellow chicken painted on the side. You may have spotted it in the area. Because the RV can be difficult to maneuver on side streets, they parked it at the Meijer’s parking lot in Westland and drove a yellow, chicken decorated Ford Escape, nicknamed the “little chicken”, to their visit with ThreeOlBags.
Zikman and the Cirocco’s arrived in Garden City on Memorial Day for the first hospitality stop of their tour. ThreeOlBags and their families provided an old-fashioned bar-b-que featuring all their promised dishes, and a good sized helping of Midwest hospitality
Three Ol Bags with Steve
They swapped travel stories and plans for the future. Zikman is looking forward to some “down time” while he tours Asia after the Chicken Soup assignment. ThreeOlBags are working on a children’s book, ThreeOlBags on the Road. Zikman also gave ThreeOlBags a little homework. He asked them to read The Artist’s Way and to individually submit stories to Chicken Soup for possible inclusion in a future edition
ThreeOlBags have found literary success by combining their strengths to produce travel articles. Campbell is the research person and rough draft writer for ThreeOlBags. She does behind the scenes work and finds opportunities online for the trio. Hegwood is the photographer/PR person for the Bags. Her artistic eye brings creativity to the group. Sparkman is editor for ThreeOlBags. Her sense of leadership keeps them on track. The real motive behind the group’s success is their quest for fun. This chance to meet with a Chicken Soup editor added one more delightful page to their scrapbook
Chicken Soup for the Soul
Cross-Country Tour
. Chicken Soup publishers are already collecting stories for TRAVELER’S SOUL II. So, if you have a story that might fit the bill, visit ChickenSoup.com and submit your own article. Maybe you will be the next published author from our area.
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