Behind the Scenes 2024–25 Season
It’s 90 degrees in the shade (i.e. summer), the Fourth is behind us, and I just sang in my first Summer Sing with the West Village Chorale (Carmina Burana at Judson Memorial Church on the campus of NYU, my alma …
Coral Bay, St. John: Hamlet? Village? Burg?
Twenty years ago, when I first moved to St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, I witnessed a bunch of locals engage in a rum-fueled debate about whether Coral Bay–the sleepy, far side of the island where I was living–was …
Tagged with: Caribbean, Coral Bay, Hurricane Irma, Not On Any Map, St. John, travel, U.S. Virgin Islands
The Reporter & The Bully (A Parable for the Undecided Voter)
I was a young reporter, working at my first on-air television job in New Jersey, when I was assigned a story about Donald Trump’s ability to cover the debts at his newest Atlantic City casino, the Taj Mahal. Working the …
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Fighting Lady Yellow
A Final Farewell for a Special Sailboat Looking at all the boats tossed on shore by Hurricane Helene’s record storm surge in Florida prompted me to pull up these photos of O’dege—a sailboat at the heart of my sailing experiences …
Tagged with: Caribbean, Coral Bay, Hurricane Irma, Not On Any Map, sailing, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, USVI Sailing, Women Who Sail
A Tale of Two Memoirs (or, What Exactly is the F*#k You 5,000?)
Congrats to Prince Harry! His memoir, Spare, which came out a year ago–same as mine–sold, according to his publisher, 3.2 million copies in the first week. By contrast, NOT ON ANY MAP: One Virgin Island, Two Catastrophic Hurricanes, and the …
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Tagged with: Caribbean, Coral Bay, Hurricane Irma, Not On Any Map, re:Write Books, St. John, travel, U.S. Virgin Islands
I Learned a Big Life Lesson on a Very Small Boat
Not long after I turned forty, I sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in a tiny boat with no engine and a bucket for a bathroom. For sixteen days I didn’t see land. It was a mid-life adventure of epic proportions, …
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Rave Reviews for NOT ON ANY MAP
“Every so often, someone with a sharp eye and a way with words lands in a unique locale, pays attention and then nails it in print. Such is the case with Margie Smith Holt who fled to Coral Bay in …
Tagged with: Not On Any Map
Inspiring Memoir by Margie Smith Holt Debuts at #1 on Amazon Bestseller List
NOT ON ANY MAP: One Virgin Island, Two Catastrophic Hurricanes, and the True Meaning of Paradise is an adventure story, a love letter to the island of St. John, and a warning about climate change. What is paradise? That’s the …
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Tagged with: Caribbean, Coral Bay, Hurricane Irma, Memoir, Not On Any Map, re:Write Books, St. John, travel, U.S. Virgin Islands
How to (Successfully) Launch Your New Book Without Books
There was a time in my professional life when I would have thought a book party with no books was a tragedy. I mean, seriously. A book party with no books? One of the things I learned from living on …
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Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
Central Park Says Goodbye to Retiring Shakespeare Gardener To business that we love we rise betime, And go to ‘t with delight. –William Shakespeare The Bard might have been talking about Larry Boes when he wrote those words. For the past …