ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Linda Abbott Trapp’s interests are wide-ranging, and as passionate as they are scholarly. In early adulthood, she was a potter and weaver. She owned a studio and supply shop in Wisconsin, and taught there as well as in Ethiopia, where she had the opportunity to work on the cataloguing of the National Museum’s collections of pottery and basketry. She has long been a musician, active in choral singing and in playing and teaching piano, and currently plays for her church in Puerto Vallarta.

Her writing began with poetry, developed precision in work as an assisting author on several annotated bibliographies in the social sciences, and grew to include authorship of college handbooks; over 60 published book reviews, more than 150 newspaper, journal, and magazine articles in a variety of subject areas, and books in several topical areas. Her doctoral dissertation provided the research background for The Evaluation of International Educational Services Offices, published in 1980 with Dennis Peterson. Fresno, Valley of Abundance (1988) was her first book designed for the enjoyment of a general audience, and was highly successful, with its combination of wonderful photography, cultural history, and civic pride.

She holds a PhD from Iowa State, a MS from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and a BA from the University of Colorado. In her academic career, Dr. Abbott Trapp has served as faculty at many colleges and universities, and as a Dean at three: Waldorf College, The Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and The California School of Professional Psychology (Fresno campus). Throughout, she continued to publish in psychology, women’s studies, the arts, and business. In 1986 she established Abbott & Associates, a management consulting and training firm, which grew rapidly, with over 80% repeat business, and 20% growth each year. Dr. Abbott Trapp delivered more than 3000 seminars throughout the US and abroad. During this period she authored a number of newspaper columns and scholarly articles on psychology and business. She was honored with the Certified Speaking Professional award by the National Speakers Association, and was a member of Leadership California.

In her travels, she became concerned about environmental issues, and studied ecotourism briefly with the George Washington University School of Business and Public Management. In 1994, and again in 1995, with an undergraduate emphasis on Soviet Studies for background, she traveled to Ulan-Ude in Siberia, met with governmental leaders and received a contract for ecotourism development on the shores of Lake Baikal. More than a decade later, her Ornamental Plants and Flowers of Tropical Mexico book is a testimony to her continuing love and concern for the environment.

Participants in Linda’s many seminars frequently spoke about the applicability of the concepts and strategies discussed in the training sessions to their home and family life. They often asked “Where’s the Book?” Too busy traveling and teaching then to write more than brief articles, she’s happy that now, in semi-retirement, the book has been born. Letters to My Granddaughters; Insights and inspiration for a life journey, contains much of the encouragement and understanding so meaningful to participants in her seminars. The book combines the insights of psychology, the guidance of wisdom borrowed from many cultures, and the experiences of a full life, richly lived, to bear on the questions that inevitably arise in trying to make sense of life. This book is her answer to the questions “What would you say? What would you tell those you love about life- what’s important, what’s needful, what adds the zest and depth that makes it all worthwhile? If you only had one chance to sum it up, what would you say to help them survive pain and cultivate joy?"

A veteran of radio and TV shows in her academic years, she now is actively seeking forums for discussing the topics in the book, hoping to stimulate active thought and discussion about these central issues. Her first readings and discussion sessions with church groups have been enormously successful.

When not engaged in these sessions, Linda is at work on her new book Intentional Living "Lessons from the Tree of Life" ; How changing your thinking can change your life. She can be contacted by clicking here.