| Registered on
and updated on
April 9, 2005: |
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Personal
Information:
| Name |
Christopher BAKER
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| Professional title |
Freelance Travel Writer/Photographer
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| Address |
530 E. Simms Road
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| Town |
Palm Springs
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| County/State |
CA
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| Country |
United States of America
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| Post/zip code |
92262
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| Phone (daytime) |
760/327-9879
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| Phone (evening) |
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| Fax |
760/327-9884
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| Mobile |
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| Email 1 |
cpbaker@earthlink.net
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| Email 2 |
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| Website 1 |
www.travelguidebooks.com
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| Website 2 |
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Christopher P. Baker -- the Jamaica Tourist Board's 1998 "Travel 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 particularly acknowledged as a regional expert on Costa Rica and 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.
Baker has written for more than 150 publications worldwide as far-ranging as American Express Expressions BBC's World Magazine Caribbean Travel & Life Chicago Tribune Christian Science Monitor Elle Geographical Magazine Islands The Los Angeles Times National Geographic Traveler National Times National Wildlife Newsweek San Francisco Examiner Saveur Tatler World & I Writer's Digest and the inflight magazines of most leading airlines, including Air Jamaica, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Delta, Singapore Airlines, US Airways, and Virgin Airways.
His numerous books include best-selling guidebooks to Cuba, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Bahamas, and elsewhere on behalf of such publishers as Avalon Travel Publishing, Dorling Kindersley, 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. He is the author of the award-winning literary travelog, "Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro's Cuba," plus a highly illustrated coffee-table book, "Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles."
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 and the National Writers Union.
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| Areas of specialist knowledge |
Caribbean, Cuba, Jamaica, Costa Rica, The Bahamas, California, United Kingdom, South America, Brazil.
Mr. Baker is acknowledged as a foremost expert on Cuba and the Caribbean.
He is also a specialist in the Palm Springs region of southern California, where he now resides.
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| 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 (six times, including "Best Travel News Investigative Reporter" and "Travel Book of the Year"), 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, which that year also was honored with the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist Award "Travel Book of the Year" (for a complete list, see www.travelguidebooks.com)
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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.
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Dorling Kindersley's 'Eyewitness Guide to Costa Rica' (in progress)
Lonely Planet Bahamas
Lonely Planet Jamaica
Macmillan Caribbean Puerto Rico (in progress)
Moon Handbooks Costa Rica
Moon Handbooks Cuba
Moon Handbooks Havana
National Geographic Traveler Costa Rica
National Geographic Traveler Cuba
Passport's Illustrated Guide to Jamaica
Prentice Hall California (with Judy Wade)
Thomas Cook Illustrated Jamaica
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| Other relevant published works |
Baker has been profiled in USA Today and has appeared on Fox Magazine, NBC Radio, and other syndicated national radio and TV shows. A gifted public speaker, he has been privileged to address such prestigious entities as the National Press Club, the National Geographic Society (Live... from National Geographic series), World Affairs Council, etc.; and is a respected lecturer aboard cruise ships, including Cunard Line Ltd. and Holland America Line. He teaches travel writing classes for the Learning Annex and Media Alliance, and has been a consultant for Intel Corp and other leading corporations. Mr. Baker has also worked within the travel industry, was founder and president of British Pride Tours; and has escorted group tours to New Zealand, Hong Kong, Korea, Cuba, and England.
A member of the Society of American Travel Writers and National Writers Union, he is also an accomplished photographer with many front-cover credits to his name.
Christopher Baker has also had chapters published in:
Travelers Tales: Cuba (Travelers Tales, 2001); Rainforests (The Discovery Channel, 2001); Trips: Following In The Footsteps of Fame, Vol. 2 (Greatest Escapes Publishing, 2001); Voyages: The Romance of Cruising (Tehabi Books/Time-Life, 1999); World Travel: A Guide To International Ecojourneys (Weldon Owen/Time-Life, 1996); Travelers Tales: Food (Travelers Tales/OReilly, 1996); Frommer's America on Wheels: California & Nevada (Macmillan, 1995); I Should Have Stayed Home (Book Passage/RDR Publishing, 1995); The Beginner's Guide to Getting Published (Writer's Digest Books, 1994)
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