Marilyn McDonald

Location: La Pine, Oregon, United States

Member Since: 29 November 2006

Professional Associations

 Travelwriters.com

 National Writers Union

Introduction

Marilyn Catherine McDonald has been a professional writer since 1967. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees while raising eight children. Then, as a single parent she returned to the work force for the first time in 25 years and climbed the corporate ladder. She worked in the fields of corporate communications, advertising, public relations and publication production. She has served as an officer in several professional communications organizations. In addition, she volunteered as a suicide-crisis hot line counselor, a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for abused and neglected children, and a recovery counselor to women in prison. A 25-year marriage to the father of her eight children ended in divorce and was followed by 22 years of single parenting. In 1999, she married Harry Taylor, the widower father of her son-in-law, Dee. Her husband Harry is a 26-year Air Force retiree and they travel every chance they get – by land in a 20-foot motorhome or by air to countries near and far. Over the past nine years they have been all over the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest, as well as Alaska, Hawaii, Florida, and Canada. They spent an entire month in Australia and New Zealand, and have been to Japan, Singapore and Pago Pago, American Samoa. For five weeks during the summer of 2003, traveling by automobile, they visited more than a dozen countries in northern and southern Europe. In August of 2006 they were in the Eastern Block countries formerly behind the Iron Curtain, and spent seven nights on the Danube River from Budapest, Hungary to Bucharest, Romania. As a result of their love for travel, Marilyn has become a travel writer – while working on book length projects. When they are not traveling, Harry and Marilyn are at home by the Deschutes River in Central Oregon or along the Sea of Cortez in Baja Norte, Mexico. Marilyn McDonald also published as Marilyn Smith in newspapers and national specialty magazines 1967-1986). She was in Corporate Communications for Good Samaritan in Portland for over nine years, owned advertising/PR agency for six years, and has freelanced articles and communications services for over 30 years. Her books include: Little Girl Lost – a true story of a tragic death, Mother of Eight Survives Population Explosion – “Just Between Us” column selections, Alert the Media: How the American Indian Movement Used the Mass Media, and Snowbirds Unlimited: Tales from the Restless Traveler (a collection of travel articles and columns published over the past 10 years.)

Experience & Expertise

Since 1999 we have lived in San Felipe, Baja, Mexico for six months of winter and in Central Oregon for six months of summer. Prior to that I was over 30 years in Portland, OR, area. My husband is retired Air Force and we travel extensively abroad on space available flights. We travel extensively on mainland Mexico and in Canada. For eight years we have traveled throughout Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona. We recently traveled in Eastern Europe, with seven days on the Danube between Budapest and Bucharest. <p> I have a masters degree in communications and 30 years in corporate communications as well as local and national publications. I have self-published four books. New book "Snowbirds Unlimited: Tales from the Restless Traveler" is an edited collection of travel articles and columns published since 2000. Available on Amazon.com or createspace.com for $10.99.

Publishing Credentials

Mostly travel since 1999 -- RV Life, Highways, Western RV News & Recreation, The Bulletin (Bend, OR),Catholic Sentinel (Oregon), Newberry Eagle monthly newspaper (La Pine, OR), Transitions Abroad. Many other publications prior to 1999.

Awards Received

I am a past president of the Portland Chapter of Women in Communications and the Oregon Healthcare Communicatiors, and have served as chair, officer or member of several other professional communications organizations.

Clips & Samples (View All 2)

Take your time in Australia and New Zealand , Transitions Abroad

Play Ball! It's Spring , Western RV News and Recreation