Most people who visit this site know me as The Person Who Catered to Frankie and Now Is Ruled By Madeleine’s Whims. Your basic crazy dog lady.  But before I was in thrall to various small creatures and spent way too much time documenting my thralldom, I was a travel editor and travel writer.

I finally finished and published a memoir detailing that era; it took me only about a dozen years. Call it a prequel to AM I BORING MY DOG and to this blog.  I’m not giving much away when I say that Frankie’s dislike of travel, combined with his diabetes, put a serious damper on my travel and travel writing.

I bring all this up now not only because I have a new book to flog but because Madeleine is a good traveler and she will be coming along on my book tour. Nay, she will probably be its main attraction.

About the Book About the Blogger

Getting Naked for Money is named for, and includes the story of, my assignment by a woman’s magazine to go to a nudist resort undercover – and uncovered (here’s a link to the published version as it originally appeared in More magazine). I pull back the curtain on both sides of the travel editor’s desk:

  • As an in-house editor in New York (Simon & Schuster/Fodor’s and Random House/Fodor’s) and London (Rough Guides), I was privy to the inner workings of guidebook publishing. I rounded out my education as a media insider as the Travel and Food editor at Tucson’s largest daily newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star.
  • As a freelancer, I authored three guidebooks, contributed to dozens of others, and wrote hundreds of articles, many for national publications. I know how unglamorous being a travel writer can be – and how rewarding.

Selected Reviews

In the order in which they were received except this one. That’s Publisher’s Weekly, baby — big time!

“Funny, fresh, frank, frisky, and sometimes ferocious. It is a revelation to read about Edie Jarolim’s career in travel writing and editing for some of the biggest players in the business, her insider’s insights into the good, the bad, and the really ugly. Go with this nice Jewish girl around the globe as she strips at a nudist resort in Palm Springs, has sex on the job in Egypt and Mexico, takes a perilous ride down into the Copper Canyon, drinks, laughs, cries, and transforms from a woman who thought “arugula” was a mispronounced “rugelach” to a respected food writer. I had a hard time putting this book down. It’s engaging on all levels.”

—Judith Fein, travel writer, speaker, and author of LIFE IS A TRIP: The Transformative Magic of Travel, and THE SPOON FROM MINKOWITZ: A Bittersweet Roots Journey to Ancestral Lands

“I’ve known Edie for many years, and here at last is the book I always hoped she would write–the totally entertaining, often informative, and at times touching tale of her life behind the travel editor’s desk and on the road. This is what happens when a Brooklyn-born scholar of modern poetry goes west and becomes a dedicated and intrepid adventurer, one who never loses her sense of humor (or self-preservation). Funny, surprising, and highly recommended for the armchair traveler.”

—Lydia Davis, fiction writer, translator, author of THE COLLECTED STORIES and CAN’T AND WON’T

“After reading Edie Jarolim’s engaging memoir Getting Naked for Money, it makes me realize what a sap I’ve been all these years peeling off for free. But then I learned all sorts of things from this juicy insider’s guide to the world of travel writing. Edie came roaring out from behind the editor’s desk to ramble around the globe chasing freelance assignments. The result is funny, informative, surprising and funny again. This is a great read for armchair and seasoned travelers, whether they’re naked or not.”

— Roger Naylor, author BOOTS AND BURGERS: An Arizona Handbook for Hungry Hikers

“Edie Jarolim is a single woman leading a rich, complicated, exasperating, inspiring, and adventurous life of a writer. Fortunately for all of us, her insights, wit, and story-telling skills are superb. More, please!”

Bella DePaulo, author of SINGLED OUT and HOW WE LIVE NOW

“I don’t usually read books about travel, but how could I pass up a title like “Getting Naked for Money”? It turned out to be a page-turner. Edie Jarolim’s adventures took me on a wild romp across the world, to places I’ve been and others I now want to visit. Her vivid, engaging writing let me see it all, and kept me laughing out loud as I joined her crazy, behind-the-scenes antics in London and Egypt and the beaches of Mexico. I still don’t read travel adventures, but I’d go with Edie anywhere.”

— Ken Lamberton, author of BEYOND DESERT WALLS: Essays from Prison and CHASING ARIZONA: A Centennial Obsession with the Grand Canyon State. 

For more details, see EdieJarolim.com. Also check out the reviews on Amazon, 50+ five-star reviews and counting.