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About the Author...
Christopher P. Baker -- the Caribbean Tourism Organization's 1998 "Journalist of the Year" -- is acclaimed as one of North America's most multi-talented
and successful travel writers and photographers, with a special focus on the Caribbean and Latin American. He is acknowledged as a regional expert on Cuba.
Baker was born and raised in Yorkshire,
England. He received a B.A. (Honours) in Geography at the University of London's University College, during which time he participated in two Sahara research expeditions and an exchange program at Krakow
University, Poland. He later earned Master's degrees in Latin American Studies from Liverpool University,and in Education from the University of London's Institute of Education. He began his writing career
in 1978 as a contributing editor on Latin America for Land & Liberty, a London-based political journal. In 1980, he received a Scripps-Howard Foundation Scholarship in Journalism to attend the
University of California, Berkeley. He has made his living as a professional travel writer and photographer since 1983. He also writes frequently on natural sciences and tourism related issues.
His passion for travel writing and photography helps Baker maintain a schedule in which he travels around the globe on assignment for leading editors and publishers.
Baker is a member of the
Society of American Travel Writers, the North American Travel Journalists' Association, the National Writers Union, and Guidebookwriters.com.
Publication credits:
Baker has written for more than 150 publications
worldwide as far-ranging as Newsweek, Elle, Islands, National Wildlife, National Times, Caribbean Travel & Life, the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, and
South China Morning Post.
Click Baker in Print for more information on Baker's credits.
His numerous books include best-selling guidebooks to Cuba, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Bahamas, and
elsewhere on behalf of such publishers as Avalon Travel Publishing, Frommer's, Lonely Planet, National Geographic Society, and Prentice Hall. He has also contributed chapters to books on behalf of Time-Life,
the Discovery Channel, etc. and is the author of the award-winning literary travelog, Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro's Cuba
Click Booklist for a complete list of books.
Awards:
Baker has been honored with many awards
for outstanding travel writing, among them the Society of American Travel Writers' prestigious Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award (five times, including "Best Travel News Investigative
Reporter"), and the "1995 Benjamin Franklin Award" from Publisher Marketing Association of North America for his Moon Handbooks: Costa Rica. In 1998, he was named "Travel Journalist of
the Year" by the Jamaica Tourist Board. In 2002 he won the Grand Prize in the North American Travel Journalists Association "Awards of Excellence" for his literary travelog, Mi Moto Fidel:
Motorcycling Through Castro's Cuba.
Click Awards for a complete list of Baker's honors.
Lecturing:
Baker is an acclaimed public speaker and has given dozens of slide presentations and lectures at bookstores and other venues throughout North
America. He has been honored to address the National Press Club and to be invited to be a faculty of the Live from... National Geographic, on behalf of the National Geographic Society, among other
prestigious organizations.
He has also been a faculty member of Cunard Cruise Lines, and lectures aboard cruise ships throughout the Caribbean and further afield.
Click Baker in Public for
information on forthcoming venues.
Radio & Television:
Baker appears frequently on radio and television talk shows and has given live and recorded interviews for "Fox Magazine," the National Geographic Channel, NPR Public Radio, ABC, NBC,
and many other nationally syndicated programs.
Forthcoming appearances are listed in Baker in Public
Consulting:
Baker has wide experience in marketing and has been a consultant to dozens of travel companies, including such
industry leaders
as Backroads, Ker & Downey, Mountain Travel-Sobek, and Wilderness Travel, as well as for major international corporations such as Intel. He has written brochures, catalogs, press releases, etc. for
dozens of companies, and has been honored with awards from the American Catalog Awards, the Direct Marketing Creative Guild, and Target Marketing. He is available for freelance projects.
Group Tour Operations and Escorting:
Baker also has wide
experience within the travel industry. For seven years he was president of British Pride Tours, which he founded. In addition to operating his own tours to England, he has packaged and managed group tours on
behalf of several universities, and has escorted group tours to Cuba, England, Hong Kong, Korea, and New Zealand.
Teaching:
Baker regularly teaches travel writing classes for the Learning Annex. As a teacher, Baker regales students with his experiences
with the hope that his enthusiasm and love for his work can inspire them to also succeed in this competitive but exciting field.
Forthcoming appearances are listed in Baker in Public
Check out Baker's website at www.guidebookwriters.com
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