"Morocco is too curious, too beautiful, too rich in landscape and architecture... always a feast to the eye." ~ Edith Warton
Beautiful Morocco is on the northwest corner of Africa, just an eight mile breath south of Spain. The country gained its independence from France in 1956 and moved toward modernization with King Hassan II's creation of the country's first constitution in 1962.
Morocco, a place of magic carpet fantasy and echoes of the Roman Empire, where anything is possible. Legends claimed that the Atlas Mountains at the Sahara's edge were the western boundary of the mythical Atlantis, that Atlantis lions still live in the ravines there.
What is known is that Morocco is a cultural mecca of contrasts: traditional Berber houses, Casablanca, kasbah forts, Sahara Desert palms, the Medina, fertile Dades valley, and more...
"Morocco, as it always has been, is a kingdom of the sun kissed by two seas," said writer Guido Barosio.
I became bewitched with Morocco while editing my friend, Lee Baker's first novel, A Tour in Morocco. It's the tale of Airman Harold "Hal" Anderson, a green 19-year-old from the backwaters of West Virginia who learns about love and life in a once-in-a-lifetime duty assignment in exotic Morocco.
A work of fiction, tinged with autobiographical experiences, Baker said his book had "something for everyone — suspense, romance, action, and mystery."
About writing, journalist William Safire once observed, "When we are fired up with an idea, writing becomes less a chore than a mode of presentation; the way we spill out our notion can even be a pleasure."
A Tour in Morocco is definitely a labor of love, born of a fiery idea... in a fiery country.
In addition to duty in Morocco, Baker's distinguished 21-year career in the Air Force included a tour in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Bronze Star. He said of his writing experience, "A Tour in Morocco is ... a book that grows on the reader to the point that it’s wonderful if you read it through."
