Searching for Timbuctoo

About the Book

“Searching for Timbuctoo” contains everything anyone would ever want to know about a sense of direction, a subject scientists consider a form of navigation. The book delves into its roots, gathers material from diverse sources, and molds it all into a cohesive narrative of people and animals finding their way.

A result of surveys done for the book indicates that 35% of the population confesses to a fair or poor sense of direction; l7% can’t find their way out of a paper bag! There has been no popular book which addresses this phenomenon of a sense of direction and its lack. The goal of the writers was to fill the gap, affirm the lost and provide a step by step guide for improvement.

The book is aimed at an adult audience, written in a non-scholarly, but accurate and entertaining manner. Its scope is wide ranging and as all- inclusive as current research allows.

Although the central theme of the book is about getting from here to there, the material flips magically from one topic to another and is leavened with human interest stories, enhanced by famous cartoons and sprinkled with testimony from the experts.

Whether the authors are seated at the controls of a C-130 which had flown to Vietnam, or seated on the steps of Danny Quill’s back porch watching pigeon training, or renting an automobile from Avis to test the latest GPS navigational equipment, or paying homage to Sacagawea at her gravesite, there’s no road not taken, but every route is relevant and intriguing to the reader.

This appealing little book will naturally attract people with a poor sense of direction but it is a perfect choice for all who have an interest in north, south, east and west.

Everyone who reads "Searching for Timbuctoo" learns something new and interesting, a little known fact, a practical suggestion, a different way of looking at the world.

About the Author

Renee Flager has struggled with a poor sense of direction all her life, and would even get lost backing down her driveway. Barbara Shandelman can be deposited in any town and comfortably navigate her way around.

Wondering why some people are gifted with a good sense of direction, and others, not, they embarked on a personal odyssey to find answers. Drawn to research, they did much of it on the open road, as they explored little known, long forgotten places, with stories to tell. Their combination of serious academic inquiry and ingeniously created field experiences has produced a work of impressive depth and scope.

With a B.S. from New York University and M.Ed. from Trenton State University, Shandelman has worked in lab research, written technical bulletins, and taught chemistry.

Flager has a library science/teaching degree from Trenton State University and has been a classroom teacher and school librarian.

Both authors are retired, married, with lots of grandchildren, and live in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.