A Balcony in Nepal

About the Book

After trekking in Nepal, Sally Wendkos Olds and Margaret Roche both fell in love with this mountainous Himalayan country and her people. They returned four times between 1993 and 1998 and spent time in Bedel, a remote hill village without electricity, telephone or roads. They helped establish a library there, and on each visit Olds, a writer, and Roche, an artist, were welcomed enthusiastically as "our relatives." Each time they came to Badel, they returned home with questions about their own lives. Here, in words and pictures, is their story of the Badel villagers and their fast disappearing ancient way of life.

About the Author

Sally Wendkos Olds has written extensively about child development, family life, human relationships, and health, and has won national awards for her book and magazine writing. She is the author or coauthor of ten books and more than 200 articles that have appeared in major national magazines.

Her first book, The Complete Book of Breastfeeding, first published in 1972, has been revised twice, most recently in 1999 for its third edition, and is now a classic in the field, having sold almost two million copies. Her college textbooks A Child's World and Human Development (co-authored with Diane E. Papalia, Ph.D.) are leading texts in child development and lifespan development, and are revised every three years. More than two million college students have read one of these books. She is also the author of The Working Parents' Survival Guide, first published in 1983 and revised in 1989 and 2000 (2000 edition available from iUniverse); and of The Eternal Garden: Seasons of Our Sexuality, 1985. All have been widely and favorably reviewed.

Ms. Olds appears often on radio and television and regularly speaks to diverse groups. She has made six trips to Nepal, and has spoken about them to numerous enthusiastic audiences. For more information, see www.sallywendkosolds.com.

Margaret Roche has traveled to Nepal 12 times. Always carrying her sketch book, she draws and paints the people she meets along the way as she treks through the hills and villages in the Himalayan Mountains. Later, back in her studio, she works some of the drawings into limited edition intaglio etchings. She has had many exhibits of her drawings and etchings and is represented in private collections here and abroad.