Judy Copeland
Judy Copeland is a California attorney who left the law to backpack around Oceania, Asia, and Africa, staying with families she met along the way. Her travel stories have appeared in the Florida Review, Literal Latte, Water~Stone Review, New Millennium Writings, and Travelers’ Tales anthologies. She holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Iowa.
Judy’s wanderlust began early. A child of missionaries, she grew up in Fukuoka, Japan, where she used to run away from home every few days, just for the thrill of getting lost in a big city. By the age of three, she had grown accustomed to policemen catching her and taking her home. While at the Kerouac House, Judy will work on stories about her childhood in Fukuoka in the 1950s.
An Excerpt
Wednesday, September 10th, 2008“Don’t expect to breeze your way onto a Bugis schooner. The crews earn enough from cargoes and can do without you and your paltry fare,” cautioned my guidebook on Indonesia. But the moment I strayed into the glaring sunlight on the docks at Parepare, I discovered that this advice wasn’t meant for women. As I walked alongside the row of schooners, eager shouts hit me like volleys of gunfire, from one crew after another. No woman traveler, not even a fortyish one like me, could be said to lack for willing takers.
I had no intention of going for a schooner ride. The Bugis sailors of Sulawesi Island had practiced piracy for centuries—still did, according to the stories I’d heard in …
