WhoIs::L.W.P.O'Neil
Growing up near Sandy Spring north of Washington, DC, I met people from different cultures starting with my parents' friends from overseas, mostly artists and writers. My Mother taught at Sandy Spring Friends School and during WWII worked in photo reconnaisance with the WAAF. My father, an architect, constructed topographic feature models used in commando briefings in England. From 1950's onward we had a steady stream of relatives and friends from around the world who came to the family farm where we raised chickens and organic vegetables and where I continue to keep bees. My parents' experiences influenced my inclination to independent study and travel, which led to a continuing career as a travel writer. I am a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
While still in high school, I started a solo travel career, staying in hostels [1]or with my family friends, glibly lying to older travelers that I was a university freshman. Although I started higher education at Georgetown University, I received the BA degree from the University of Toronto. During the 1970's, I managed budgets for research projects at the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine in the U of T Faculty of Medicine, collaborating on a textbook, Prevention in Clinical Practice. Other study includes Botanical Art at the Corcoran College of Art, Literary Text Analysis at GWU and an MA in International Trade Law from Antioch University. Further education includes an Associates in Applied Science in Geography and Geography Education. At the University of Hawaii, I acquired a certificate in Agroforestry Techniques.
As a lifelong philatelist, I've always cultivated contacts for trading stamps. During the 1970's and 1980's when Mail Art flourished, I participated in global art collaboration projects such as Ryosuke Cohen's Brain Cell and G.A. Cavellini's archive. My work has appeared in several exhibitions including the National Museum of Women in the Arts travel sketchbook show.
While I have significant work experience in public affairs management, marketing, and teaching online, I'm basically a deadline journalist trained in the newsroom of the Washington Post. For nearly two decades, I bashed out music reviews, health squibs, community events announcements and new technology pieces. On my own time, I wrote about travel, food and books for the Post and dozens of other magazines, websites and periodicals including National Geographic News, Gastronomica, and Elle.
After joining the U.S. Department of State in 2004, I served in the U.S. Embassy Mexico City and the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai, continuing to travel whenever opportunities emerged. That career ended with eight years with the Office of eDiplomacy. With George Washington University, the Office of EDiplomacy co-hosted Wikimania2012 in Washington, DC.
I'm a painter as well as a writer. Art provides a connection: People see me drawing and gather around me. My travels have taken me through the wilder parts of Kamchatka and Sumatra, as well as urban centers like Rome and Jakarta. During 2001 I walked across France alone through the Pyrenees Mountains from Hendaye on the Atlantic to the Mediterranean.