Nancy Taylor Robson, professional writer, University of Maryland Master Gardener, Bay-Wise certifier and enthusiastic cook and eater, has delighted in creating community by gathering people around a table to share stories, ideas and mutual support – however disparate the politics of those involved.
She is the author of several books, including: the autobiographical Woman in the Wheelhouse about the six years she worked on coastal tugboats and becoming one of the first women in the country to earn a US Coast Guard license to run tugs; A Love Like No Other: Abigail and John Adams, A Modern Love Story, a woman ahead of her time who had what she most desired: a marriage of equals in a time of total inequality; and the award-winning, Course of the Waterman, the story of Bailey Kraft, river royalty a dying breed set on the fictional Elizabeth River in Mercy County on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. She is also a co-author with RN Sue Collins of OK Now What? A Caregiver’s Guide to What Matters. (All of the books are available in paperback from Head to Wind Publishing https://www.headtowindpublishing.com/bookstore and paperback or ebook from Amazon and IngramSpark)
Nancy Taylor Robson has written garden, travel, essays, maritime reportage and analysis, environment, sustainable living and more for The Baltimore Sun, House Beautiful, Yachting,The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, Coastal Living, Southern Living, Maryland Magazine, and more. She is a contributing writer for Chesapeake Bay Magazine, and for two years was the editor and food and garden writer for the Chestertown Spy and the Talbot Spy, a labor of love that connected her to all things food, including so many fabulous recipes for fresh, organic, locally produced food that there will never be enough time and energy to try them all. Good food and wine as both nourishment and nurturing is a tradition as old as humanity. Warmth, food and good companions. What more do we need in life?
Nancy Taylor Robson 
Nancy:
May I reproduce your photo of the Christmas cake? To be used in a webinar for the Association of Fundraising Professionals International. I am not being paid for the presentation. Happy to credit you/your blog.
Hello Ms. Nancy,
I am not sure whether or not you are the one who wrote the wonderful story “The Greatest Gift of all,” from the Nurse’s book of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series. The story, however, touched my heart and soothed my soul in a very positive way.
Best regards,
Hamza Balol
Saudi Arabia
Dear Hamza,
Yes, I wrote “The Greatest Gift of All,” now in Chicken Soup for the Couples’ Soul. I’m so glad it touched and soothed you. Thank you for letting me know. The people who have told me it let them take a new look at their relationships in a broader, more gratitude-filled way have been a gift to me. The essay was originally published in the Christian Science Monitor.
I don’t know whether or not you have a Kindle e-reader, but Head to Wind has published my novel, A Love Like No Other: Abigail and John Adams, A Modern Love Story, and it’s available on Amazon.com. A Love Like No Other is the story of the very strong and mutually supportive marriage between our second president, John Adams and his wonderful wife, Abigail, who raised their children while he was helping to build our country 200 years ago.
Head to Wind has also just reissued my book, Woman in The Wheelhouse, for Kindle. It tells about the six years I worked on a coastal tugboat with Gary and also. There are a number of pictures in the book. It’s available for Kindle here:
Thanks again for writing to me. I really appreciate it.
All the best,
Nancy
Hi Nancy,
I was deeply humbled by Gary’s silent love for you when he had always given you gifts you needed not presents you wanted. True love is not something we find, it is something that finds us. You were found by his great love no doubt. Like the road scraper he provided you, God provides us exactly what we need in just the same way. He never abandones us or leaves us to suffer alone. He encourages us to face the challenges ahead of ous and strengthens us against life blizzards. He is the circle whose center is everywhere and its circumference is nowhere. When He leads us to the edge of the cliff, we need to understand that either He will carry us or teach us how to fly. When He leads us to the end of light, all what He wants us to do is to take one more step forward into the darkness. Blind faith is to know that He will certainly offer us a solid place to stand on.
Unfortunately, Kindles or any other electronic books are not sold here in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, I am not allowed to order anything from amazon.com because I don’t have a credit card and I did not even apply for it. In Islamic World and for one reason or another, scientists do not recommend to possess credit cards. I promise you to search for your novels at our local bookstores here in Riyadh where I live. If I did not find any book for you, I will do my best to read large parts of your novels online. You are a very talented writer indeed and your writing style is unique beyond the words.
I hope you had a wonderful Independence Day.
Blessings to you and your family,
Hamza
Thank you, Hamza. I’m moved by your letters. You’re a generous spirit.
Nancy
Is your book available in anything other than Kindle? I wanted to get it for a gift to my granddaughter but she doesn’t have a Kindle nor do I. I am very disappointed. Thank you….
Sally, thanks so much for your interest. To answer your question: it depends on which book you are referring to. Woman in the Wheelhouse is available both as an ebook (you can download software to be able to read it on any e-platform, for example iPad. To download free software for it, see the link below.) or as a used book since it was published in hardcover years ago. A Love Like No Other: Abigail and John Adams, A Modern Love Story, is currently available only as an ebook. Course of the Waterman is currently only available in hardcover.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=sv_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771
Thank you for your quick response. The book I am interested in is Abigail and John Adams, A Modern Love Story…so again, I am very disappointed. I love books and though I understand the benefits of an ebook, I’m sad to think that in the not too distant future, the joy of opening a brand new book with it’s fresh smell, and promising thickness will be a thing of the past. I have seven grandchildren and giving them books as gifts has become a tradition for many holidays (for many years). For instance, for Thanksgiving, our theme is Americana, patriotism, history, etc……and your book sounded like just the thing for my only granddaughter. Again, thank you…….
Blessings,
Sally
Sally,
A Love Like No Other: Abigail and John Adams, A Modern Love Story has just been made available in paperback. I think it would be a good thing for your granddaughter, despite it being well past Thanksgiving and the fact that you may have moved on to a new theme for the year! The book is historically accurate, and a great way to learn history and learn that history is made up of people and their interactions — I ended up with a degree in history thanks in part to my early love of well-researched historical novels.
If you enjoy the book, I’d really appreciate a review/mention on Amazon. Thanks much for your interest.
all the best,
Nancy
Sally, I totally agree with the whole codex/book-in-the-hand sensation. It’s just not the same at all on something electronic, and you never have to recharge a book. I also understand about giving books as gifts. Our grown son always looks for ‘the ubiquitous pile of books’ beneath the tree. It’s possible A Love Like No Other will be published as a softcover in the not-too-distant future, and if so, I hope you will buy a copy for each of your seven grandchildren!
Thank you for keeping in touch by letting me know of the availability of A Love Like No Other in paperback. I will certainly check it out…..I am also a lover of historical novels so though Thanksgiving has come and gone, it is never too late for me to read a good book. Just for your information, I did come up with a suitable substitute for my granddaughter by going to a used book store looking for, and finding, an out of print book on Abigail Adams by Irving Stone….an old favorite of mine since high school.
Blessings,
Sally
Dear Nancy, I’m working on a downsizing and am going through the books I’ve kept that I optimistically thought I would reread someday. With one exception, they all went unreread to the library’s used book sale, the exception being Woman in the Wheelhouse. I reread it and enjoyed it all over again. I bought it when it was first published and loved it. I could relate to it in so many ways as I was one of the first women hired by ARCO to work on their oil tankers in the early 1970s. After this great adventure, I pursued more traditional lines of work, and I’m now looking at what entertainments retirement might provide.
Joyce McConeghey
joyce.mccon@gmail.com
Joyce,I apologize for taking so long to reply to your very kind comment. Glad you enjoyed the book, especially enough to reread it! I’m trying to edit spaces rather than downsize. I’ve promised myself if it doesn’t fit in the library here or one of the bookshelves (the chairs, tables and windowsills don’t count) it goes to the library book sale or to The Bookplate, a wonderful used and new bookshop near us that I call the most expensive library in the world. Now that I am not working full time and am trying to downsize my life 9if not our spaces), I am trying to find the discipline to write more on the blog. I still do occasional book reviews for The American Gardener (I’m a UMD Master Gardener and also a member of the Sustainability Committee of the international garden writers’ assoc, GardenComm). Fair winds and following seas to you, and thanks so much again for your kindness!