Dr. Lew Deitch

Dr. Lew Deitch

Biographical Sketch

I am both a Canadian and an American, proudly holding dual nationality. I was born in California to Canadian parents and this gave me the dual citizenship. I have lived and worked in Canada and traveled across the country and also across the U. S. many times. At a young age I became interested in the world and found geography to be the most fascinating subject of all. So when I went on to university, that was my field of study. I earned a bachelor's degree, followed by a master's and doctorate, which I earned in Australia. And I chose to teach at the university level until retirement some 46 years later.I started my teaching career at the University of Arizona, went on to Northern Arizona University and then to Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC. Ultimately I returned to Northern Arizona University and finally ended my teaching career in Phoenix at Paradise Valley Community College.

In addition to teaching, I volunteered my time as a reserve officer for the Arizona Highway Patrol, which gave me a taste of reality in ways I had never imagined possible. I also owned an art gallery toward the end of my academic career, as I have always been an amateur artist, painting in oils. I still paint from time to time, but spend more of it writing both the travel books you find in my Amazon pages and I have also written three science fiction novels. As a child, I received a copy of the "Wizard of Oz" one Christmas and that started me on the road to science fiction and fantasy. Recently at the bookstore the checkout clerk noticed my selections and politely said,"Sir you are the first older gentleman I have checked out that loves science fiction."

Writing had always come easy to me. And as I grew older and wiser, I began to pen my travel experiences and express my love of sci fi through writing. Amazon gave me the opportunity to self publish and I have concentrated primarily on writing travel advisory guides based upon my vast experience. I have been to 97 countries on all continents and am still traveling in my retired years. I do not consider myself a tourist, as I travel with the purpose of coming to know the places I am visiting, mingling with the locals and discovering what makes each destination unique. I did lecture on board Silversea Cruise Line ships for 12 years after retiring from the academic world, and thanks to that part-time position, I was able to expand my global range. I study about every place before visiting so that I go with a fair degree of background knowledge. In my travel writings, I try to bring the reader the vital background on each destination I write about. And because these books are meant for active travelers, I do provide tips on what to see, where to dine and of course where to shop. But I do limit my recommendations to four and five-star venues, as I have always been a more high-end traveler. After all why not travel in style if you can. But I never let the style of travel interfere with getting down to the grass roots of a place.

I grew up multi-lingual and have a love of languages. And this has facilitated meeting people in many parts of the world and establishing friendships. In addition to English, I speak Spanish, German, Russian and I like to say I also speak Australian. And as the Aussies say, "That's fair dinkum." All of my books are published through Amazon in both large format 8.5 x 11 inch format and on Kindle. Unfortunately due to printing costs, most of my books are in black and white format. But for many I do issue a higher priced full color edition.

Please take a look at my travel books and I hope they will prove useful to you. Please check out my updated and exciting new format website for the latest information regarding my publications. It is now up and running. The address is http://www.doctorlew.com. You can write to me regarding your travel interests or plans and ask for advice or recommendations by clicking on to the contact page.

I wish you all happy traveling.