A Chance Encounter With A Reader

As a writer, I have had my share of unexpected encounters with readers. One of these, which I will always remember, happened on January 3, 2013, as I was traveling from the USA to Tanzania.

I had boarded a plane in Minneapolis, bound for Amsterdam. Having taken my seat, some ladies sitting near me asked me if I would be willing to trade seats with a friend of theirs, so that she could come and sit near them. I readily accepted their request and vacated my seat.

As soon as I was comfortably seated, I greeted the young lady sitting next to me. Responding, she looked at me and excitedly remarked, "You wrote a book." Saying that, she quickly reached for her purse which was under the seat in front of her and brought out a copy of Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences.

The young woman told me that she was traveling to Kenya as part of a group of volunteers with Medical Missions Worldwide. Through her, I got to meet other members of the group. She also said that a friend of hers from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls told her to read that book.

That made me recall that a few years earlier a group of students from that university had visited me at St. Olaf College for some cultural orientation prior to traveling to Uganda to work on a building project. We had a fruitful conversation and a book signing.

Needless to say, this encounter was quite a surprise to me. However, that was not the first time I had encountered such situations with readers, who easily recognize me because my picture appears on the back cover of my book. I had a similar experience with readers from Nebraska at the airport in Amsterdam, as I reported on this blog.

(Photos were taken by John A. Williams II, Executive Director of Medical Missions World Wide)

My Nebraska Readers

On June 9, 2010 I was in Amsterdam for several hours, on my way from Minneapolis to Dar es Salaam. As we were standing in the long, packed queue, proceeding to the boarding gate, a lady approached me confidently and asked me to sign a copy of my Africans and Americans book.

I did not know the lady, but she had the book in her hand. As she was handing me the pen and the book, I humbly asked for her name, and she told me to write Charlotte and Aimee. I asked where she was from and she said Nebraska, adding that she and several other people were on their way to Arusha, Tanzania, on a mission trip. Such mission trips are now very common among U.S. Lutherans and other Christians.

As Charlotte and I talked, we discovered that we have a mutual friend, Pastor Martin Russell, who is a seasoned leader of mission trips to Tanzania. I have never met him, but we are connected on Facebook. As we were getting connected on Facebook, Pastor Russell told me that he constantly recommends my book to mission trip participants. That is how Charlotte got to know about it.

During the flight, a young lady came to my seat and declared that she was Charlotte’s daughter and excitedly started praising my book, saying it “really nailed it.” Other people sitting nearby heard her. I was humbled. She asked if I would pose for a photo with her group later, and I gladly agreed.

When the plane landed at the Kilimanjaro International Airport in Arusha, I joined the group in the back of the plane and Charlotte took the photo shown here.













Such encounters with my readers have become quite common during flights between the USA and Tanzania. I am easy to recognize because of the photo on the back of my book, and I know that wherever I go, I cannot hide.