The Berlin airlift, a Japanese naval officer, Sir Francis Drake, rutabagas, a baseball player-turned-spy–just some of the fascinating details and characters that came up in my discussion of the writing of historical fiction and popular history in Manzanita, Oregon, last weekend. This completely adorable coastal town seems to attract intellectual people who’ve had one career and are operating full blast in another. And a big group of folks turned out for the evening reading, though they could have been spending the first Saturday of spring break walking on the beach under clear skies and a gleaming sunset, and they were such a smart, attentive audience. Sometimes I think, as my mother would say, “How did a little girl from the country get so lucky?” My thanks to Kathie Hightower and her comrades for inviting me.