I came from a large, Irish
Catholic family with seven children, with a father who exposed me
to Broadway and the opera and a mother who could have been a
professional comedy writer. She raised a family instead and still
lives in the Chicago home where we grew up and where we gather for
huge reunions.
Our family traveled
a lot, especially when there were only two kids. I am the oldest,
and my next and closest sibling is George (George Wendt, the actor
best known for his role as Norm in the Cheers TV
series).
The funny thing is,
I am the one who studied theater, not George, although he was into
acting, too. In college in the late 60s, I spent my junior year in
Rome, during which I covered a very large part of the map. When my
parents visited, they took me to Tunis.
The university (a
Loyola of Chicago overseas campus) planned trips meant to stretch
our horizons, one heading east for my first visits to Istanbul,
Beirut, Jerusalem and Cairo and another that included Moscow and
Leningrad (since renamed St. Petersburg).
I fell in love with
travel.
Also, I had a role
model living in my neighborhood, Tom Donovan (the late chairman of
Cartan Tours and past ASTA president). I walked into Foremost
Travel in Chicago and talked myself into a job stamping brochures
at minimum wage. After paying for my college degree, my father was
thrilled.
Eventually, I had
my shot at more and focused on Europe, no surprise. One of my first
sales was a 108-day, round-the-world cruise to a deliveryman who
showed up on his bicycle with a hat and earflaps pulled down firmly
around his face. That experience taught me never to judge a book by
its cover.
Raising three kids
and excelling in a travel career hasnt always been easy: The
craziest thing I ever did was attend a forum in San Antonio from
Thursday to Sunday -- except on Saturday I flew home and did what
mothers do for daughters on the night of a homecoming dance. Then I
practically followed my daughter out the driveway on my way to the
airport. I was back at that event in time for dinner. --
Edited by Nadine Godwin
To contact the
reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Nadine Godwin at [email protected].