Local author welcomes visitors

Linda McDermott will be featured as the Author of the Month at Tehachapi Museum on Saturday, March 2. She will be there to answer questions and talk about the books she has written. It is an informal session, so drop in any time between noon and 4 p.m. to visit with her. It’s also a good opportunity to spend some time seeing the museum.

After McDermont’s children were “out of the nest,” and she retired from a career in human resources, she began travelling. She went to Alaska for two months with her dog and cat, and she adds, “I returned with both of them.” She traveled many places, sometimes with a friend, sometimes alone. She went to Antarctica twice and even worked there for a while in human resources.

She was excited about her travels and enjoyed talking about them. Her grown children urged her to write them down, so she did. Her first book, “No Regrets,” is somewhat autobiographical. It is about a girl from Cincinnati, Ohio, where Linda is from, who traveled in all seven continents, finding purpose and balance in her life.

With a love for handmade art and items of nature, McDermott collected such things during her travels. She put them in a basket and shared them with her grandchildren when she returned. They still enjoy hearing what the items are and where they came from. This is the basis of her second book, “Grandma’s Baskets.”

In 2005, Linda McDermott moved to Tehachapi. She hikes regularly with her dog and enjoys visiting with people. She stays busy volunteering at the BeeKay Theatre, Tehachapi Museum, Visitor Center and as a Friend of Pacific Trail Hikers. She looks forward to meeting lots of people at the Author of the Month event at the Tehachapi Museum, 310 S. Green St.