Joe Yogerst

Introduction

Writer, editor, and photographer Joe Yogerst is home again along the coast of Southern California after many years living abroad and working as a journalist and magazine editor in South Africa, Britain, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Experience

After starting his professional career as an editor at Soccer America magazine in the San Francisco Bay Area, Joe worked as a freelance journalist in South Africa for the Washington Post and the Geographical Magazine (UK), a general assignment reporter for a suburban London weekly newspaper, managing editor of Cathay Pacific's award-winning Discovery magazine in Hong Kong, and a business reporter for the International Herald Tribune in Singapore.

An offer to write in Hollywood brought him back to California and a four-year stint developing movies and penning murder mystery scripts for Mary Tyler Moore (MTM) Productions and Stephen J. Cannell Productions.

National Geographic came calling with a year-long project to write a book about driving the Pan American Highway from Texas to Argentina - the first of more than 40 book projects for National Geographic. Nowadays Joe also writes for CNN Travel, Forbes Travel, DestinAsian Magazine, the Los Angeles Times travel magazine, Newport Beach and Laguna Beach magazines, Europe Express and Good Nature.

Selected books

• Long Road South; 50 States, 5,000 Ideas; Wild Beautiful Places and 125 Years of National Geographic Photography in Africa (National Geographic)
• America As It Happened (Washington Post)
• The Vietnam War and The World War One Book (DK)
• Explore! America's Journeys (Kane/Miller)
• Nemesis: A Novel of Old California (Blank Slate Press)

Joe has also contributed to travel guides on Argentina, Peru, Cuba and Costa Rica; Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Macau; East Africa and Egypt; Spain, Greece, England, Venice, Barcelona and Amsterdam.

Education

Joe earned a Bachelor's Degree in Geography at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Master's Degree in Journalism at the University of Oregon.

He delivers guest lectures to writing and journalism students at San Diego State University and the University of California at San Diego (UCSD), and mentors student newspaper staff at UCLA.

Awards

Among Joe's many magazine and book honours are eight Lowell Thomas Awards from the Society of American Travel Writers including two Travel Book of the Year gold awards. He was named the Caribbean Travel Writer of the Year in 2006 and has received awards for his nature writing from the San Diego Press Club.

Fun fact

Joe estimates that he's spent at least two years of his life sleeping on the ground while camping in Africa, Asia and North America.