On my recently completed TE/CS trip, while on the platform at San Jose, my uncle and I got into a conversation with a gentleman who, in the course of conversation, mentioned he'd written a couple of books about Amtrak. A bell rung in the back of my head, and I wondered if this could be the same man who wrote, several years ago, the book "AMTRAKing", but couldn't remember the name. I thought nothing of it until we met up with this man again, this time at the Klamath Falls platform. My uncle asked if he was selling any of his books, and it turns out he was. We bought a couple of books from him, and as it turned out, it was indeed Mauris Emeka, who wrote AMTRAKing in 1994. What a thrill to meet him!. The book he was selling was "Heart and Soul of the Train". I asked him if he happened to have any copies of AMTRAKing, and he got my name and address and said he'd send me one if he had any available. Sure enough, today I received in the mail his AMTRAKing book. Autographed even! He could easily have asked for money ahead of time, which I'd have been happy to pay, but he trusted me to send a check for the book once I received it. Very trusting! Of course I've already prepared the return envelope with his payment in it, but wonder if he'd gotten burned by this before.
At any rate, it was thrilling to meet him! Just one of the great things about train travel: the people you meet!
At any rate, it was thrilling to meet him! Just one of the great things about train travel: the people you meet!
